President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening slammed New York Post reporter Steven Nelson's question about the public wearing masks.
Nelson asked Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams whether or not he mislead the public at the end of February when he said masks do not prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
"You knew about asymptomatic transmission at the time. You were essentially misleading the public," Nelson explained.
"The honest answer is no, we did not. That was a recommendation of the World Health Organization and the CDC. We gave you the best information we could at the time. I actually a little bit resent that implication because I work hard to try and protect the American people," Adams replied. "We're always going to give the American people the best information we have available at the time."
"We're humble enough to say if we don't know we're going to change," Adams admitted. "We're gonna change those recommendations."
President Trump moved towards the podium.
"Just a wise guy question, that's all," the president said.
At the beginning of April, the CDC changed its guidelines and recommended people wear face masks as "an additional voluntary public health measure." Although the suggestion was made, Trump was clear he wanted Americans to save medical-grade masks for health care workers on the front lines.
"You knew about asymptomatic transmission -- You were misleading the public.."
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 22, 2020
"No we did not...we gave you the best information we could at the time. I actually resent that implication. I work hard to protect the American people.."
TRUMP: "Just a wise guy question, that's all" pic.twitter.com/pDNu09Zbyj
Nelson followed up with his question on Twitter, explaining why he brought up the questions about the general use of masks:
Surgeon general told me tonight he wasn't misleading public with Feb. 29 claim that masks 'are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus'
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) April 23, 2020
Taiwan has more people than NY but just 426 cases after early widespread mask wearinghttps://t.co/0JrNoraXAR
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) reminded Americans that the World Health Organization recommended people not wear masks.
The World Health Organization recommended people not wear masks. Thank God @realDonaldTrump is halting their funding. https://t.co/JZQSBJ8eiz pic.twitter.com/vVYAhiP2Ai
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) April 23, 2020
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