President Trump prompted praise from an audience in New Jersey after getting into a back-and-forth with a reporter who specifically asked why they weren’t all wearing masks.
On Friday, Trump ended his unexpected news conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, with a confrontation with a reporter, defending exceptions to mask protocols and jokingly saying the crowd came to the event to protest the media.
“You said that the pandemic is disappearing, but we lost 6,000 Americans this week. And just in this room, you have dozens of people who are not following the guidelines in New Jersey,” the reporter asked, prompting boos from the audience.
“You’re wrong on that because it’s a political activity. They have exceptions, political activity. And it’s also a peaceful protest,” Trump quipped, adding the crowd assembled to protest the media.
“I’d call it peaceful protest because they heard you were coming up. And they know the news is fake. They understand it better than anybody,” Trump also said, which the audience reacted to with praise.
