President Donald Trump demanded that a reporter take his mask off before answering his question during a news conference at the White House Monday afternoon.
Reuters reporter Jeff Mason, who was wearing a black mask, asked Trump about the allegations in The Atlantic that he insulted dead soldiers during his a to France.
“Thanks, Mr. President. The issue of what happened when you were in France continues to be a story,” Mason started.
The story that Mason had been referring to was a pair of allegations that Trump derided captured and fallen members of the U.S. military, calling them “losers” and “suckers.” The president reportedly had refused to attend World War I memorial at France’s Aisne-Marne American Cemetery because he was afraid to get his hair wet.
After the question, Trump paused the briefing and said that he did not understand the reporter. He then insisted that Mason remove his mask.
The president said, “You’re going to have to take that off, please. Just – you can take it off. Your health – how many feet are you away?”
Mason replied, “I’ll just speak a lot louder. Is that better?”
Trump said, “It’s better, yeah. It’s better.”
Trump has repeatedly denied making disparaging remarks about soldiers on several occasions and wrote off the entire article as a “hoax.”
During Monday’s briefing, the president repeatedly praised reporters for not wearing masks.
“You sound so clear as opposed to everybody else, where they refuse,” Trump told one reporter.
Trump was not wearing a mask at Monday’s outdoor news conference.
