Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump Absurdly Claims That Scarves Are 'Better' Than Masks At Preventing Illness Because They're 'Thicker'

Trump Absurdly Claims That Scarves Are 'Better' Than Masks At Preventing Illness Because They're 'Thicker'
Win McNamee, via Getty Images

Health officials are constantly updating their guidance regarding masks and other prevention strategies during this public health crisis.

The longer the pandemic goes on, the more they learn.


So everything is confusing enough already without Donald Trump tossing his personal speculations on top of science-backed advice.

None the less, Mr. President cannot help himself.

During a recent White House Press Briefing, one reporter asked President Donald Trump about masks, specifically if all Americans should wear them whenever leaving the house.

The question was NOT an invitation for Trump to give his meandering thoughts about masks and stuff. This was a chance for Trump to lay out the official, clear federal guidance regarding the wearing of masks by non-medical civilians.

Trump, in typical fashion, felt much more casual about the whole thing:

"If people wanted to wear [masks], they can. If people wanted to use scarves – which they have, many people have them – they can. In many cases the scarf is better. It's thicker. I mean if you can... depending on the material it's thicker."


The President continued:

"I mean, one of the things that Dr Fauci told me today is we don't want them competing, we don't want everybody competing with the hospitals. We really need them. So you can use scarves. You can use something else over your face."

That reasoning does align with the CDC's advice.

cdc.gov

But looking closely at the CDC page, it becomes clear that Trump left out a VERY important detail about universal face coverings of the cloth variety.

Cloth masks, as the guidance says, are effective for stopping the spread of the virus FROM YOU TO OTHERS, not the other way around. The CDC guidance does not say that wearing cloth face coverings will prevent you from catching the virus.

Trump's response did not clearly make that distinction. He basically said a mask is good, but a scarf is better.

To confused, worried Americans, that was not helpful. Many Americans watching assumed that he was advising how to avoid contracting the virus, rather than prevent its spread.

Alas, the daily White House Press Briefing muddied more waters than it cleared up.

The confusion prompted news outlets like CNN to put some time in to fact-checking Trump's scarf advice.

Fact-checking Trump's claim that scarves are better than masksyoutu.be

Twitter offered a live illustration of the wild emotions set off by Trump's comment.

Some were silly, some were scared and some were angry.






This was not the first and very likely will not be the last time that Trump's comments from the podium send Americans to the internet for fact checking and clarity.

More from News

Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less

Things People Do In Relationships That Seem Sweet But Are Actually Toxic

Content Warning: Controlling and Toxic Relationship Behaviors

We've all either been involved in or witnessed a relationship where we saw something that we thought was cute or sweet at first, but we eventually found the behavior to be troubling or "too much."

Keep ReadingShow less
A piggy bank surrounded by loose change.
coin bank

'Poor Person Habits' People Won't Give Up No Matter How Rich They Get

When money is tight, we look for every possible way to avoid spending it.

As much as we might find ourselves missing out on some of the nicer things life has to offer, we find ourselves contented by the fact that we will always have enough money in our bank accounts to pay our bills on time.

Keep ReadingShow less