Trump pictured wearing face mask despite not wanting to give press 'pleasure' of seeing him in it

Pictures showing Donald Trump wearing a mask in public have emerged after MSNBC news aired one photo of a masked president during his Ford factory tour in Michigan.

President Trump denied calls on Thursday to wear a protective mask during the tour despite admitting he had briefly worn one.

“I wore one in the back area, but I didn’t want to press to get the pleasure of seeing it,” the president said, surrounded by Ford executives and workers wearing masks at the Ypsilanti plant producing ventilators to beat the coronavirus.

Mr Trump could be seen wearing a dark coloured mask adorned with the presidential seal in one corner, in an image aired on national television on Thursday night.

The same photo was later shown on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell hours later but MSNBC did not credit the source.

It is possible that an employee at the Ford plant captured the picture that was taken in private on Thursday.

At the same time, NBC news said it could confirm the photo’s authenticity through a source.

MSNBC host Bill Ritter deleted a tweet with the picture, and later said that “ABC put it out and then ruled that they weren’t yet able to confirm the photo.”

Ford said in a statement that “Bill Ford encouraged President Trump to wear a mask when he arrived”, in line company policy.

It continued: “He wore a mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the years. The President later removed the mask for the remainder of the visit.”

Mr Trump added that whilst he looked “better in the mask” he had stopped wearing one because he was making a speech.

Still, some supporters were critical of Thursday’s tour, with pro-Trump Nevada attorney Joey Gilbert writing on Twitter that Michigan’s state governor and attorney were “freaks” because they demanded Mr Trump wear a mask.

“Holy s**t the attorney general in Michigan lost her mind and has complete and total Trump derangement syndrome; I’ve never seen anything like it,” wrote Mr Gilbert.

“Hey NUTJOB, he’s tested daily, is on HDC (look it up crazy) & YOU KNOW DAMN WELL YOU TAKE OFF YOUR MASK!! FREAKS!”

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

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