Reuters’ Jeff Mason Confronts Kayleigh McEnany Over Trump Shift on Masks: ‘What Changed?’
Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason confronted White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on why President Donald Trump is now embracing mask-wearing and recommending it when he could have been this forceful about it months ago.
Mason said that the president’s tone on the coronavirus “seems to have changed” this week, bringing up his touting of masks and him announcing the RNC convention Jacksonville plans.
“All of these things were bad two months ago, even longer than that. The science on masking has been clear for several months. What changed this week? Why did his tone change?” he asked.
McEnany said “there has been no change” and pointed to comments the president made months ago about masks, claiming he’s “been consistent” on this.
Mason brought up an exchange he had with the president during a May briefing. He wore a mask at the time as he asked Trump 1) about his retweet appearing to criticize Joe Biden for wearing a mask, and 2) about his tweeting about Joe Scarborough conspiracy theories.
Trump answered the first part then asked Mason to repeat the second question because “I couldn’t hear you.”
He asked Mason to take off the mask to ask the question. Mason opted to speak louder and said he would rather keep the mask on, which led to the president calling him “politically correct” for that.
“That wasn’t exactly agreeing with the science of wearing masks,” Mason told McEnany.
McEnany defended the president there by saying, “You were standing outside and you’d been tested, and you were wearing a mask and he couldn’t hear your question, so he asked for you momentarily to pull down the mask. That was the specific context. And context does matter here.”
“I was standing around other reporters and using the same mic that other people were using. That’s why I left my mask on,” Mason said.
McEnany continued defending Trump before saying again “he hasn’t changed his tone.”
You can watch above, via Fox News.
