New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is branded a 'clown' for video mocking Trump's return to White House as he proudly dons a mask and salutes
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has received a harsh reaction after creating a parody video mocking President Donald Trump's return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
De Blasio, who dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary last year after polling at 0 percent among primary voters, including in his home state, posed for the parody video in front of City Hall on Tuesday.
In the video, triumphant music swells as de Blasio holds up a surgical mask, puts it on, and then salutes.
On Monday, Trump returned to the White House and appeared on a balcony, where he took off his face mask and saluted Marine One as it departed.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has received harsh reaction after creating a parody video mocking President Donald Trump's return to the White House
In the video, triumphant music swells as de Blasio holds up a surgical mask, puts it on, and then salutes
De Blasio dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary last year after polling at 0 percent among primary voters, including in his home state
De Blasio's parody video was shared by the city government's Twitter account, which added the comment: 'In New York City we wear our masks, proudly.'
Reactions to the parody video were harsh, with many describing the mayor's effort as 'cringe'.
'Yes, make a show of putting on a mask outside in the sunshine with nobody around. Nothing makes the brainwashing and ludicrous nature of what's really going on more clear,' one person responded.
'City Hall is empty in this video because Mayor de Blasio's incompetence gave 2.3 million New Yorkers coronavirus and everyone fled,' another wrote.
'He steps outside without a mask on, to put on a mask, to walk back into the place he didn't have a mask on ? WHAT?' tweeted another.
Yet another replied: 'This is the stupidest thing I’ve seen today.'
One young woman replied simply with four emojis depicting a clown face.
Trump also faced criticism after removing his mask for a photo-op on the Truman Balcony on Monday night.
George Conway, husband of former White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, tweeted out the Lincoln Project's take on the video, while his wife battles the coronavirus.
It used the same footage as the one released by Trump, but replaced the dramatic music with the Russian National Anthem.
Trump salutes from the Truman Balcony upon his return to the White House from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he underwent treatment for Covid-19, in Washington, DC, on Monday
But a White House spokeswoman says Trump's photo-op was a show of 'strength' designed in part to send a signal to foreign adversaries.
'There was some criticism over him going to the Truman Balcony and, you know, waving and kind of showing the sign of strength,' Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, in an interview with Fox News.
'In times like this and these moments in our country, it’s highly important that the commander-in-chief express confidence to our domestic population, but it's also very important to our allies and adversaries who are watching closely to see, is he projecting an image of strength?' she said in an interview she conducted from the White House grounds, after many top aides opted to work from home amid the outbreak.
'And that is what he did last night. Precautions were taken,' she said.
No comments