WATCH: Maskless Trump REFUSES to Shake Hands with Military Officer While Leaving Marine One
President Donald Trump still won’t wear a mask in public, but he did take one conspicuous precaution when he recoiled from a handshake while disembarking from Marine One on his way to board Air Force One.
On Saturday, Trump traveled to Cape Canaveral for the latest attempt at a joint Spacex Nasa launch, but it was the first leg of that trip that soared into the social media stratosphere when New York Times photographer Doug Mills snapped the exact moment that Trump recoiled from a proffered handshake.
.@realDonaldTrump reacts as he refuses a handshake as he steps off Marine One to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews for a trip to the Kennedy Space Center to view the lift off of SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2. pic.twitter.com/MKzs1YrdmQ
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) May 30, 2020
Many journalists and other prominent Twitter blue checks took note of the moment, some derisively.
Profiles in courage… https://t.co/NcDHNMIgS5
— Eric Robertson (@EricRobertson) May 30, 2020
What Twitter tough guys look like in real life… https://t.co/CXvjIWjPFj
— Andy Nesbitt (@anezbitt) May 30, 2020
Remember how horrified the multimillionaire Fox News hosts were when @BarackObama saluted at Marine One with a cup of coffee in his hand? https://t.co/T2W4DqZBtc
Poor, terrified Trump and his snowflake #MAGAT supporters… https://t.co/RRcXeVXvOw https://t.co/VGeiChFP72— Thom Hartmann (@Thom_Hartmann) May 30, 2020
Real hero we have running the show, here https://t.co/HGT08B7SYu
— Dave Doyle (@davedoylemma) May 30, 2020
A fantastic photo — and props to the President for remembering. https://t.co/84K8kfS5X9
— Nick Weig (@tbweig) May 30, 2020
Fox News is going to call for impeachment when they see this https://t.co/LzKnhdUCRT
— Tyler Hansen (@tjhansen) May 30, 2020
The no handshake recommendation is apparently an idea the president has adopted in light of coronavirus. https://t.co/9Eb5STzcJA
— Kelly O’Donnell (@KellyO) May 30, 2020
Remember when Obama saluting with a coffee in his hand was the biggest scandal to rock the American political system? Can’t wait to hear the full-throated condemnations from Fox News about this. I imagine they’ll be denouncing this for weeks. https://t.co/NiqF4ZXiTw
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 30, 2020
Has a Commander-in-Chief ever been more terrified? https://t.co/w3Or4hOHWi
— Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) May 30, 2020
There were skeptics who thought the still must have been misinterpreted.
There is exactly 0% chance that what Trump did or did not do is what this garbage media dirtbag is claiming in this tweet.
Understand that everything the media tells you is a lie designed to manipulate you. Reject it and celebrate the destruction of the mainstream media. https://t.co/mR5jNhJPKH
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) May 30, 2020
However, the Washington Post’s Sarah Parnas pointed out that there was pool video of the aborted gesture.
Video of this from Pool: https://t.co/Zhi9hSvWVG pic.twitter.com/6oOexrS2oI
— Sarah Parnass (@WordsOfSarah) May 30, 2020
For adherents of social distancing, the clip is at best a mixed bag, as Trump does eschew the handshake, but then Trump and the officer proceed to spew conversation droplets at each other from a range of mere inches, both without masks.
Watch the pool video above, via Washington Post.
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