President Donald Trump was not pleased when a local reporter asked him about masks and testing, grew agitated, and then tried to bully him before bragging about how “everyone I’m around is tested.”
“The leading experts are saying social distancing needs to be respected and masks still need to be worn,” cable giant Spectrum’s NY1 News Washington Correspondent Jeevan Vittal told Trump as he launched into his question, as CNN’s Daniel Dale noted.
The President wasn’t having it.
“I don’t know,” Trump interjected. “Then why aren’t you further away? Why aren’t you wearing a mask?” he asked, belligerently.
“I can take a step back,” Vittal respectfully offered.
“No, no, but you’re way, you’re not, social distancing based on that question,” Trump noted.
“But we also got tested and when we’re talking about testing, that’s obviously something that needs to be done,” Vittal said, trying to bring the interview back to the questions.
“Well a lot of people – a lot of people – everyone I’m around is tested and many of the people that we had, we did temperature checks, we did a lot of things. No we have – we’re very safe we’re very careful,” Trump bragged.
Watch – begins at the 4:20 mark:
The President’s remarks come one day after the nation had its largest single-day spike in coronavirus cases, as Texas has halted its reopening plans, and as Trump aides and dozens of Secret Service agents are all being ordered to self-quarantine as their associates who attended the Trump Tulsa rally tested positive for the coronavirus.
On social media many were quick to note that Trump and his top aides get tested regularly, and anyone who is in close proximity to the President is required to get tested first, but the vast majority of Americans have not been tested and in most parts of the country many people still cannot get tested.