Former Trump administration official Alyssa Farah Griffin said Thursday she was among those who encouraged former President Trump to wear a mask during the worst of the COVID pandemic by telling him he “looked cool.”
Griffin, a host of “The View,” sat down with former White House COVID response lead Anthony Fauci on the show Thursday, and both of them recalled trying to get Trump to wear a protective face covering.
“I remember telling him he looked cool in the mask,” Griffin said, eliciting laughter from the studio audience. She served as the White House director of strategic communications in 2020.
“I remember, yeah!” Fauci said.
“I thought he might be like, 'OK, fine, I’ll wear it.' It didn’t work,” Griffin said.
“Nice try, Alyssa,” Fauci offered.
Trump was rarely seen in a mask during the pandemic, and the former president publicly said he would not follow health advice to wear a mask in April 2020.
Fauci also opened up about his conflict with the former president over the former administration's COVID response.
“It was very painful for me. I have a great deal of respect for the presidency of the United States of America,” Fauci said. “I’ve served seven presidents so it wasn’t like, ‘Wow, isn’t this cool that I’m contradicting the president.’ It was very, very painful, but I had to do it.”
Fauci called Trump’s refusal to wear masks a “missed opportunity” to promote the safety protocol to his political base.
“He has millions and millions of followers who are very loyal to him,” Fauci said. “All he had to do was say the CDC is recommending masks, we know it’s going to save lives, do it.”
