July 12, 2020

The Big Boy President Wore a Big Boy Mask And Now the Election Is Over, Aides Say

This is the sort of positive reinforcement people use on dogs.

President Donald Trump wears a mask as he walks down the hallway during his visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, July 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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“They said this day would never come”—Barack Obama once said that, referring to his historic victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. But I also said it—aloud to myself, when I saw this photo of President Donald Trump wearing a mask on a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday:

For months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local governing bodies have advised Americans to wear masks indoors and in situations where social distancing is impossible, in order to slow the spread of Coronavirus. But Trump has made a point of not wearing one (and of not social-distancing, for that matter). Unlike you, he gets tested regularly, as do those around him, but—like Gerald Ford getting his flu shot—it’s the symbolism that matters as much as anything.

One might think wearing a mask in front of photographers for the first time in July would be a source of tremendous embarrassment, like realizing 40 minutes into your commute that you are not wearing pants. CNN reported that Trump’s aides had spent months trying to convince him to wear a mask. But when the first images dropped, Trump’s campaign orbit was on-message: He looks totally badass. And also: the presidential election is now over.

 

This is like putting up a huge sign on the White House lawn that says “Days Without an Accident: 1.” Congrats to the Big Boy president! The president’s most loyal supporters are treating “the president following his government’s own guidelines on the plague” like proud parents of a toddler who just cursed for the first time. This is the sort of positive reinforcement people use on dogs. There might well be some truth to the idea that Trump wearing a mask four months into a pandemic that has killed nearly 140,000 Americans will effectively settle the election. But it might not be the outcome they want.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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