Michigan AG Tells Trump: You Have a ‘Legal Responsibility’ to Wear a Face Mask When You Visit

Donald Trump has a legal responsibility to wear a face covering when he visits Michigan on Tuesday, according to the state’s attorney general. The President has not worn a mask in public yet.

Michigan AG Dana Nessel wrote a letter to President Trump on Wednesday telling him he had to wear a face covering during his visit to Ford car plant this week.

“Michigan has been hit especially hard by the virus, with more than 50,000 confirmed cases and 5,000 deaths,” Nessel’s letter said.

“Anyone who has potentially been recently exposed, including the President of the United States, has not only a legal responsibility, but also a social and moral responsibility, to take reasonable precautions to prevent further spread of the virus,” she wrote.

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Nessel, a Democrat, reminded Trump that Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s recent executive order required manufacturing facilities to “suspend all non-essential in-person visits, including tours.”

Whitmer’s order also requires “that any individual able to medically tolerate a facial covering wear one when in any enclosed public space.”

President Trump has been reluctant to wear a face covering, however. Early on in the pandemic he ruled out wearing a mask and he’s since visited facilities where others were wearing masks without doing so himself.

Trump commented on possibly wearing a mask on Tuesday when he was asked about his upcoming visit to the state.

“It depends. In certain areas I would,” Trump said. “So, we’ll see. Where it’s appropriate, I will.”

Nessel pointed out that wearing a face covering “is not just the policy of Ford, by virtue of the Governor’s Executive Orders.”

“It is currently the law of this State.”

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Darragh Roche

Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media