Why would he refuse to follow the recommendation? “Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens—don’t know,” he said, although of course he had not greeted any foreign leaders recently, nor was he likely to anytime soon. The whole world was closed for Covid. “Somehow, I don’t see it for myself.”[17] Whatever mix of vanity or political concern played into Trump’s decision to reject masks, it would have a profound effect. Rather than bring the country together behind a simple, modest preventive measure, he helped make mask wearing a political statement and
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