- Mark Meadows, President Trump’s chief of staff, apparently convinced Trump not to institute a nationwide mask mandate, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
- According to the Times, Meadows said such a mandate would alienate Trump’s strongest supporters: “The base will revolt,” he said.
- Meadows’ comments have persuaded Trump to step down from a masked mandate, despite poll data showing a majority of Republicans are in favor of one.
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Mark Meadows, the chief of staff of President Donald Trump, was ultimately the one who persuaded the president to abandon a nationwide mask mandate to fight the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reported Thursday.
According to the report, President Trump’s main voices, Tony Fabrizio, came to the Oval Office in the middle of the summer for a meeting with Trump and his advisers. Fabrizio reported some surprising news: A majority of voters – including likely Trump supporters – support the mandatory wearing of the mask in public.
Fabrizio’s poll found that nearly 70% of voters in states targeted by Trump’s campaign were in favor of a masked mandate in July, including more than half of Republicans. The ballot box data supports the argument made by senior advisers Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks: Trump can wear masked clothing as the key to Americans regaining their freedom to attend group meetings and in-house events.
But Meadows disagrees. At the same meeting, he argued that the politics of such a move would damage the president’s reputation with his most ardent supporters.
“The base will revolt,” Meadows was quoted as saying by The Times.
Several of Trump’s other advisers shared this view, including Stephen Miller, senior White House adviser. Meadows added that he is also not sure that such a move would be legal.
For Trump, Meadows’ words ultimately outweighed the wishes of Kushner and Hicks, and of Fabrizio’s ballot data.
“I do not do a mask mandate,” he apparently said.
After that, Trump was rarely seen in public wearing a mask, except after contracting COVID-19 himself in early October.
Trump knocked out Jared Kushner for overseeing what he considered too much test
Adviser Jared Kushner (R) saw President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool / Getty Images
In addition to Meadows’ involvement in discouraging a masked mandate, the New York Times report also outlined how Trump challenged Kushner for what he considered too much testing for COVID-19.
Kushner oversaw nationwide testing efforts throughout the year.
According to The Times, during another meeting of the top assistants at the Oval Office on August 19, Trump became angry about the increase in COVID-19 tests in the US, which he blames for higher numbers.
‘You’re killing me! This whole thing is! We have all the damn things, ‘Trump apparently shouted at Kushner.
“I want to do what Mexico does,” Trump continued. “They don’t give you a test until you get to the emergency room and you vomit.”
According to the report, Trump also criticized Kushner over tests during preparation for the debate.
“I’m going to lose,” Trump told The Times. “And it’s going to be your fault because of the testing.”
Azmi Haroun reported.