President Trump can’t catch a break from the media.
The commander in chief was playing a round of golf with several partners on Saturday when CNN photojournalist Khalil Abdallah tracked down the group at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Photographs were shared on Twitter with a note about how no one appeared to be wearing masks.
“CNN photojournalist @abdallahcnn got a shot of President Trump golfing today,” tweeted CNN’s Jason Hoffman. “He says the president is moving around the course in a golf cart alone but is golfing with three partners. None of the men are wearing masks.”
CNN photojournalist @abdallahcnn got a shot of President Trump golfing today. He says the president is moving around the course in a golf cart alone but is golfing with three partners. None of the men are wearing masks. pic.twitter.com/WXYS6zDPNd
— Jason Hoffman (@JasonHoffman93) May 23, 2020
Meanwhile, the pool reporter for the day, USA Today‘s John Fritze, was stuck at the tennis pavilion and could only request to be filled in on the president’s activities.
CNN’s Jim Sciutto noted that this was Trump’s first visit to one of his golf clubs since March 8 and by CNN’s count, “This is the president’s 357th visit to one of his properties and his 265th trip to one of his golf clubs during his presidency.”
CNN dedicated a good deal of coverage on Thursday about the issue of Trump wearing a face mask during his visit to a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan.
The president was seen wearing a mask while touring the facilities away from reporters before removing his face covering to speak with the media, who peppered him with questions about not wear a mask. Trump told reporters that he refused to wear a mask in front of reporters because he “didn’t want to give them the pleasure.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was apoplectic about the Ford Motor Co. allowing Trump to go maskless during parts of his visit in violation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus restrictions.
“We’re going to have a very serious conversation with Ford in the event that they permitted the president” to go without a mask “in violation of Whitmer’s order requiring anyone who is medically able to wear a mask in an enclosed space,” Nessel said on CNN. “They knew exactly what the order was, and if they permitted anyone, even the president, to defy that order, I think that has serious health consequences.”
Trump has sparred with reporters and politicians on several occasions regarding his preference to not wear a mask.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that “everyone wear cloth face coverings when leaving their homes, regardless of whether they have fever or symptoms of COVID-19. This is because of evidence that people with COVID-19 can spread the disease, even when they don’t have any symptoms.”
