Trump joked about COVID-19 on Air Force One after 2020 debate with Biden, book claims

Ex-US President Donald Trump and his then chief of staff Mark Meadows joked about the COVID-19 that mounted the death toll, unleashed devastation, shuttered businesses and ruined the economy in countries worldwide. The Republican president mocked the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 onboard Air Force One after the first debate with Joe Biden in 2020 whilst he was en route to a massive rally in Middletown, Pa., according to the excerpts in the book Enough composed by Trump's chief of staff Meadow's closest aide, Cassidy Hutchinson.

Just three days before the episode, Trump, who refused to take a COVID-19 diagnosis, tested positive for the novel virus, Meadows confessed later. The Presidential jetliner had dozens of officials, including senior aides, Air Force One personnel, junior staffers, journalists and other members of the large entourage that were all squeezed together in the plane. “Stop the president,” White House physician Sean Conley told Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, but the latter confessed that it was "too late".

Claims about Trump testing COVID-19 positive were made in Meadows’s own memoir, The Chief’s Chief, that said, despite showing worsening coronavirus infection symptoms, Trump attended public events including the 2020 presidential debate with Joe Biden. He also met with the bereaved military families disregarding his own health after the second test somehow came out negative. Trump, in fact, joked on the flight that he took on September 29 2020 about catching the infection.

Trump confessed that his voice had sounded “a little bit off” while he delivered a speech at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota. The former President told Meadows that he did not want the American press to find out that he would've caught something "ridiculous, like having COVID-19." In response, his then chief of staff Mark Meadows "laughed and promised him that we would handle it if it happened." Trump, however, debunked the account, calling it 'fake news'. 

Trump defied masking due to fears of makeup smudge? 

The book also claims that Trump hated the mandatory COVID-19 masking protocol as it smudged his bronzer. He downplayed its effectiveness as he refused to be photographed wearing one in the press. Trump mocked his presidential rival Joe Biden for donning the mask, but in reality, he was worried about it spoiling his own makeup.

The former commander-in-chief toured the grounds during the visit to the Honeywell facility in Phoenix, Arizona without a mask, and was criticized for it. He then turned to his staffers to advise him whether he should wear the 'white' mask that could possibly ruin his makeup. “I slowly shook my head. The president pulled the mask off and asked why I thought he should not wear it,” Hutchinson wrote in her book. “I pointed at the straps of the N95 I was holding. When he looked at the straps of his mask, he saw they were covered in bronzer.”