“As top Republicans rally against the reintroduction of masking protocols to combat the Delta variant of the coronavirus, one prominent name has stayed largely on the sidelines. Former President Donald Trump has ventured relatively gingerly into the new masking debates. Of the hundreds of statements he has issued through his Save America PAC, just six have mentioned the words ‘mask’ or ‘masks.’ Of those six, just two could be described as a volley against the push by government officials to get individuals to mask up again or to institute mask mandates in places of business or schools. One came this past week as Trump fundraised off of former President Barack Obama’s birthday, where guests were pictured outside without masks on.”
“The other came on July 27, when Trump declared, ‘We won’t go back. We won’t mask our children,’ after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new indoor masking guidance. Trump’s relatively muted approach to the masking debates may be owed to his other obsessions – predominantly, spreading the false idea that the 2020 election was rigged. But it still stands in contrast to a number of top Republican elected officials” – Politico.