Trump just claimed people are wearing face masks just because they don't like him

President Trump has told The Wall Street Journal that he believes that some people are wearing masks not to protect themselves and others from coronavirus, but to signal their disapproval of him.

The president also claimed that testing for the virus is “overrated”:

I personally think testing is overrated, even though I created the greatest testing machine in history.

He said, arguing that more tests means more confirmed cases, which, “in many ways, it makes us look bad.”

We’re going to try and figure out the logic here...

Ok, so, if testing for coronavirus is overrated, does this mean the virus itself is overrated? In which case, Americans shouldn’t be fearful of catching or spreading the virus, so they don’t need to wear a mask so… a mask is an anti-Trump protest?

This is despite the fact that there are over 2 million confirmed cases in the US, and 120,000 people have died.

In the interview, Trump also expressed his own distaste for masks, suggesting they actual spread, rather than prevent, coronavirus. The presenter said:

They put their finger on the mask, and they take them off, and then they start touching their eyes and touching their nose and their mouth. And then they don't know how they caught it?

The American Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends "wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission," while the UK government has made it mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport.

Trump has repeatedly been photographed at public events without a mask.

Only last month Trump was seen touring a Ford factory without a mask, despite a state law and Ford company policy requiring facial coverings. Claiming that it was “not necessary” when queried by a reporter, he said:

Everybody’s been tested and I’ve been tested.

He then went on to say “I had one [a mask] on before,” in an area that was not visible to reporters, but “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.”

Wow, he's really got one over on press with that bold act of resistance... So brave.