The president was filmed remonstrating with a journalist after complaining he couldn't hear the man's question
Donald Trump was filmed arguing with a reporter after asking the journalist to take off his mask so he could hear his question. The president said ‘You’re going to have to take that off please,’ after a male reporter started to ask him a question about a 2018 trip to France outside the White House on Monday.
Trump continued: ‘Take it off, you’re, how many feet are you away?’
The reporter, who was sat in a slightly-spaced out press pack, answered: ‘I’ll speak a lot louder.’
But Trump was unbowed, and said: ‘Well, if you don’t take it off, you’re very muffled, so if you take it off it would be a lot easier.’
The reporter still refused to remove his face covering, and said in a clear voice: ‘If I speak a little louder.’ Trump answered with a loud sigh, then said: ‘It’s better,’ before letting the journalist continue.
Trump has flip-flopped on masks, initially offering lukewarm support for them – while refusing to be seen in one – before eventually being photographed in one of the coverings, then mocking rival Joe Biden for covering his own face.
Monday’s press conference was billed as a chance for Trump to tout job numbers, after announcing 10.6million new jobs had been created since May on his Twitter account this morning.
But he went off on multiple rambling tangents, which included branding Democratic rival Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter corrupt.
Trump also accused Biden’s vice presidential pick Kamala Harris of being an anti-vaxxer for expressing skepticism over a coronavirus vaccine Trump claims will be ready just before the November 3 presidential election.
The president went on to take aim at Germany for working with Russia to construct a natural gas pipeline, despite the recent nerve agent poisoning of President Vladimir Putin’s rival Alexei Navalny.
And Trump also spouted about Robert Mueller’s probe into his alleged links with Russia, highlighting how it had been unable to prove any wrongdoing.
Trump boasted that he was ‘the most innocent honorable man ever to hold the office of president.’
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