US health secretary: Trump doesn’t wear a mask due to his ‘unique’ circumstances

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says US President Donald Trump’s “unique” circumstances is why he does not wear a mask even as the government is urging people to do so.

Addressing spikes in reported coronavirus cases in some states, Azar says people “have to take ownership” of their own behaviors by social distancing and wearing masks if possible.

He says Trump does not have to follow his own administration’s guidance because as a leader of the free world, he is tested regularly and is in “very different circumstances than the rest of us.”

Azar declines to say whether he has ever asked Trump to wear a mask. He tells CNN and NBC that his own message to the people is to take precautions for “public health.”

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee says Trump should spend more time tweeting about wearing masks instead of monuments. Inslee tells CBS: “We need a president who will care more about living Americans and less about dead Confederates.”

— AP