Melania Trump slammed for unmasked exit: White House forced to explain
The First Lady created controversy by removing her mask during a visit to a children's hospital in Washington earlier this week. The White House was forced to respond.
This Tuesday, Melania Trump visited, as every year during the holidays, the Children’s National Hospital in Washington. And like every year, the First Lady read a book to sick children. Problem, Donald Trump's companion took off her mask when reading her story, which goes against the hospital's internal regulations which require the wearing of a mask "at all times to fight against Covid-19. Even, as CNN explains, during "official visits. "
Social distancing "respected"
As the controversy escalated, the White House responded Tuesday evening by assuring that "the event was limited" to a small number of participants because of the pandemic and that "social distancing had been respected. "
“When the First Lady took off her mask, she was more than 3.50 meters from the others. All other participants wore a mask. The rest of her visit, she wore a mask, "the hospital spokesperson confirmed. She also recalled that the laws in force in Washington allow a speaker to remove his mask if he is more than two meters from his audience, without ever mentioning the hospital rules.
As the White House explained, the number of attendees at the event was drastically reduced due to the pandemic. Many sick children have had to simply follow the First Lady's story online.
