Politics
Melania Trump Receives Backlash For Removing Her Mask While Reading To Sick Kids In A Hospital!
By Ashley Mitchell
Dec 16, 2020 7:35 PM
Source: bostonglobe.com
Not many people were too happy to realize that First Lady Melania Trump decided that it would be a good idea to take her protective face mask off while reading to children – in a hospital! Here’s what they had to say about her putting so many immunocompromised young ones in danger!
As you know, there is an annual tradition that consists of Melania reading to sick kids around the winter holidays and while that is a really nice and festive gesture, what she did amid a global pandemic was the opposite!
After all, this year was not like all the others so her session with the kids at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. was also not like the others – or, at least, it shouldn’t have been!
But Melania forgot for a moment how important wearing a mask at all times while around others is – especially in a hospital!
As a result, she got a lot of backlash on social media!
First of all, this year, she only got to read to two kids in person because of social distancing rules put in place amid the pandemic.
That being said, only 6 year old Riley Whitney and 8 year old Sophia Martinez, sat on the floor in front of the FLOTUS.
However, they were not the only ones listening!
Other young ones got to participate in the reading session from the safety of their own hospital rooms via a live stream instead.
The two little girls who were there in person did seem to be at least six feet away from Melania but her taking her mask off is, nevertheless, a violation of the hospital policy.
Still, following the controversy, Diana Troese, who is the hospital’s spokesperson, told CNN, in part, that ‘Under DC Health regulations, wearing a mask isn’t required when a person is giving a speech for a broadcast or an audience, provided no one is within 6 feet of the speaker.’
She went on to insist that the kids were seated 12 feet away and that Melania wore her mask all throughout the hospital visit – while reading being the only instance when she removed it.