Mask-less Donald Trump is ridiculed for touring Arizona mask factory while 'Live and Let Die' blares from speakers as coronavirus death toll passes 70,000
President Donald Trump has been mercilessly mocked by his opponents for touring a factory without a face mask while the song Live And Let Die blared over the sound system.
The President's visit to a mask manufacturer in Arizona yesterday set Twitter alight, with many pointing out the ill-chosen song's message while Trump comes under fire for urging people back to work while the pandemic still rages.
In an interview with ABC News during the visit last night, the president suggested that there would be 'more death' due to the pandemic, as states begin the process of allowing businesses to reopen.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel led the social media pile-on and described the blunder as the 'metaphor for this presidency'.
As the US mourns the highest coronavirus death toll in the world, which has now surpassed 70,000, others branded the farce the 'worst optics ever'.
There is no suggestion that the playlist was selected by the White House, but the gaffe was likened to a scene from a sitcom.
Trump is already under fire for the factory tour because of his failure to wear a face mask - despite them being mandatory on site.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel led the social media pile-on and described the apparent blunder as the 'metaphor for this presidency'
US President Donald Trump tours a Honeywell International Inc. factory producing N95 masks during his first trip since widespread COVID-19 related lockdowns
President Donald Trump has been mercilessly mocked for touring a factory without a face mask while the song Live And Let Die blared over the sound system
The choice to play the 1973 song by Paul McCartney and Wings was met with ridicule, horror and disbelief.
Journalist Chris Megerian said: 'The president has been encouraging people to return to work during an ongoing and deadly pandemic, and he's touring a factory producing emergency medical supplies while the sound system blares Live And Let Die.'
To which a fellow reporter replied: 'A writer's room would send this one back for being unrealistic.'
Much of the reaction compared the gaffe to a comedy scene, with one person tweeting: Live And Let Die *breathes* We are living in a poorly written movie.'
Others used the song as ammunition to attack the Republican Party, with one person tweeting that blasting out the hit while 'Trump demonstrates safety ignorance by not wearing a mask is very on brand for the GOP'.
There was disagreement over whether the song was an unfortunate accident or a conscious decision by a factory worker trying to send a message.
Political analyst Bill Palmer wrote: 'If anyone at that factory gets fired for blasting that Live And Let Die song at Donald Trump, I want their name so I can set up a gofundme and make them rich.'
Another wrote: 'Great choice of loud music…give that employee a raise.'
The choice to play the 1973 song by Paul McCartney and Wings was met with ridicule, horror and disbelief
There was disagreement over whether the song was an unfortunate accident or a conscious decision by a factory worker trying to send a message
The flurry of scathing tweets over the choice of song was accompanied with a backlash over the president's lack of face mask.
'Attention, face mask is required in this area,' read the sign in the portion of the factory President Trump toured. 'Please wear your mask at all times,' was one of the safety guidelines on a sign near the factory's entrance.
But President Trump did not wear one as he observed workers. A White House official said that the facility said officials were not required to wear masks but to take all precautions.
The president was non-committal about wearing a mask before he left on his trip, telling reporters at the White House that he might 'wear' one.
But he did not.
President Donald Trump ignored signs requiring a mask be worn when he toured a mask factory in Arizona and only wore safety goggles on his eyes
President Trump was surrounded by workers wearing masks during the tour
The Honeywall factory the president toured was converted to making N95 masks
The tour came before he sat down with ABC News' David Muir for an interview in which the president said as states reopen: 'There'll be more death, than the virus will pass, with or without a vaccine'.
Over the course of the interview, the president suggested that there would be 'more death' due to the coronavirus pandemic, as states begin the process of allowing businesses to reopen.
'It's possible there will be some because you won't be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is,' the president said. 'But at the same time, we're going to practice social distancing, we're going to be washing hands, we're going to be doing a lot of the things that we've learned to do over the last period of time.'
The president, making his first trip out of Washington in three weeks, toured an Arizona factory that was expanded to make N95 masks in response to the coronavirus epidemic.
During the tour, given by Honeywell International Inc. CEO Darius Adamczyk and Honeywell International Inc. Vice President Tony Stallings, the president was surrounded by workers wearing face coverings as they produced masks to be sent to health care workers on the frontline of the pandemic.
'I just want to thank all the people at this incredible company, this incredible plant,' Trump told workers after his tour. 'This pandemic has underscored the vital importance of restoring our supply chains and constructing a powerful domestic manufacturing base.'
President Trump has never been photographed wearing a face mask and has shown reluctance to do so even as he acknowledges the recommendation of the CDC to wear one when proper social distancing cannot be enforced.
Before he left for Arizona, he said he'd wear a mask if it was a 'mask facility.'
'If it's a mask facility I will, yeah. I don't know if it's a mask facility,' he added.
A sign near the entrance of the Honeywell factory asks people to wear face masks
Arizona Senator Martha McSally (right) listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a tour of a Honeywell International plant; the senator and factory workers wore masks
Honeywell started making masks at the end of April due to concerns about a shortage of facial coverings. The company said it can make 10 million of the masks per month.
Arizona remains under a modified stay-at-home order until May 15. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey allowed some stores to reopen Monday voluntarily as part of the administration's push to get the country reopen. The state has seen almost 9,000 infections and more than 350 deaths.
Trump's trip had additional security concerns - how to stop anyone from getting infected from the coronavirus when the group travels together in the tight quarters of Air Force One and the cars in the presidential motorcade.
Three Arizona Republican lawmakers traveled to the state with Trump. Senator Martha McSally tweeted a photo of them in front of Air Force One preparing to board and ignoring social distancing guidelines.
'Headed to Arizona on Air Force One soon,' she wrote, adding a selfie that showed Rep. Paul Gosar and Rep. Debbie Lesko in tight approximation with her.
President Trump said everyone traveling with him on the plane was tested for the coronavirus. The White House has ordered anyone meeting with the president to undergo a coronavirus test first. Factory workers at Honeywell were also reported to have been tested for the virus.
'Everybody traveling has been tested,' Trump said at the White House before he departed. 'Literally they have been tested over the last hour and the test results come back in 5 minutes. We have great testing or they wouldn't be allowed to travel with me. It's not my choice, it's a very strong group of people that want to make sure that they are tested, including Secret Service. They're all tested - everyone traveling on the plane.'
Gosar spent two weeks in March in self-quarantine out of concerns he came in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus while attending CPAC.
The dentist-turned-congressman closed his offices and wrote he'd rather die 'gloriously in battle' than from the coronavirus.
'Been thinking about life and mortality today,' Gosar tweeted at the time. 'I'd rather die gloriously in battle than from a virus. In a way it doesn't matter. But it kinda does.'
Trump has been noncommittal about mask wearing after Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for not wearing one during a visit to the Mayo Clinic last week, flouting hospital policy to wear a face covering. Pence later said he should have worn one.
'I will know when I get there. If it's a masked environment I would have no problem,' the president told reporters on Air Force One as they prepared to go to Arizona.
The president's last trip to Arizona was on February 19, when he held a campaign rally in Phoenix. The state is crucial to his re-election.
A poll out last month showed Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden up nine points in Arizona, which tends to trend red. The poll was a troubling sign for Trump as Arizona hasn't gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1996.
The president has shown his restlessness.
'I've been at the White House now for many months, and I'd like to get out,' Trump said last week.
As the coronavirus crisis was becoming more serious at the beginning of March, the president spent the weekend away at his Mar-a-Lago resort and then stopped in Orlando to host fundraisers before returning to the White House on March 9.
He's essentially been there since.
The president took a day trip to Norfolk, Virginia on March 28 to see the USNS Comfort depart for New York City.
This past weekend, Trump flew off the Camp David before returning Sunday.
He then participated in a Fox News Channel town hall at the nearby Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Mask-less Donald Trump is ridiculed for touring Arizona mask factory while 'Live and Let Die' blares from speakers as coronavirus death toll passes 70,000
![Mask-less Donald Trump is ridiculed for touring Arizona mask factory while 'Live and Let Die' blares from speakers as coronavirus death toll passes 70,000]()
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May 06, 2020
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