President Trump on Friday teased Fox News host Laura Ingraham for wearing a mask at his Michigan campaign rally, chiding her for being “politically correct.”
“I do believe Laura Ingraham is here some place. Where is Laura? Where is she?” Trump said, scanning the crowd for the Fox News host.
“I can’t recognize you. Is that a mask?” Trump said, appearing surprised. “No way. Are you wearing a mask? I’ve never seen her in a mask.
“She’s being very politically correct,” he added.
The president’s comments are the latest example of him mocking others for wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has previously swiped at Democratic nominee Joe Biden for wearing masks, and he accused a journalist earlier this year of wanting to be “politically correct” when he would not remove his mask to ask a question in the Rose Garden.
Trump has only worn a face covering on rare occasions and has periodically questioned the usefulness of face coverings, despite public health agencies saying it is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump’s outright dismissiveness toward pandemic safety measures comes as the United States sets records for daily coronavirus infections and as Wisconsin, Texas, Utah and others are faced with limited hospital capacity.
“We’re still rounding the corner,” Trump insisted at the Michigan rally on Friday.
Roughly 1,000 people have died of the virus each of the past three days in the U.S., and the country has reported more than 228,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, the most of any country in the world.