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(Bethesda) US President Donald Trump appeared for the first time publicly on Saturday with a mask, which has become an object of heated political debate in the United States as much that a bulwark against the outbreak of COVID – 17.
Published on 07 July 2020 at 17 h 59 Updated to 17 h 15
Alex EDELMAN and Daniel WOOLS
France Media Agency
The mask that Donald Trump wore was dark blue and wore, engraved on one of its corners, the golden coat of arms of the American presidency.
The republican billionaire had to make up his mind to present his face covered since he visited on Saturday evening soldiers wounded in combat at the Walter Reed hospital from Bethesda (Maryland), on the outskirts of Washington.
“I will probably have a mask”, said a few moments earlier the American president as he left the White House, justifying this gesture by circumstances.
“When you speak with soldiers who have just come out of the operating table,” he explained, “I think it is it is very good to wear a mask. ” “I have never been against masks, but I am convinced that it depends on the time and the place,” he added.
Recommended from April
Since the beginning of March and the appearance of the first restrictions against the coronavirus, Donald Trump had carefully avoided appearing in public with a mask.
The president even contributed to making this object, the wearing of which is recommended by the American health authorities, a subject of political litigation in a highly polarized America .
The refusal to wear the mask is often seen in one part of society as an assertion of one's individual freedom in the face of recommendations from national and international authorities.
Symbol of these divisions, the American president had held the 20 June rally campaign in the city of Tulsa (Oklahoma) in front of thousands of supporters not protected by a mask. Local authorities have since noted an increase in the number of COVID cases – 19.
He also repeatedly mocked his Democratic opponent for the November 3 presidential election, Joe Biden, who for his part scrupulously respects the advice of doctors . He limits his movements and systematically appears with his face covered.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued a national recommendation for the mask in early April.
But Donald Trump immediately stood out, claiming that he was tested almost daily for coronavirus, as were everyone around him.
The pressure has been very strong in recent days for the Republican President to send a signal in favor of wearing a mask, because the United States is in the process of lose control of the epidemic with a number of cases of COVID – 19 exploding, especially in southern states like Florida and the Texas.
The U.S. recorded Friday near 65 000 0 new cases, especially in states ruled by Republicans who had lifted the containment and restrictions measures taken in March faster than others.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 3.2 million cases of COVID – 17 that have been listed in the country, as well as near 135 00 0 dead, the heaviest toll in the world.
