Trump with a mask

For goodness sake just wear a mask, Donald. Why does everything have to be so difficult?

Two-thirds of American voters want Donald Trump to wear a facemask when he's out in public, while 27 percent say he shouldn't, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released May 20.

Ninety percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents want Trump to cover his mouth and nose when outside. Thirty-eight percent of Republicans say the same.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 guidelines state: "Everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities."

Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell told CNN ahead of Trump's visit to her state: “Leaders need to lead. I hope the president will follow the protocols, because people will see the importance of wearing those masks. It matters.”

And that's the nub. Presidents Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan and Carter certainly would have worn a mask during a pandemic, if recommended by the CDC.

They considered themselves leaders of the government. Trump, in contrast, views himself as a non-president.

The Washington Post's Greg Sargent reports that Trump plans to run for re-election as an "outsider" in a bid to dissociate himself from the mess that he made. That's pretty rich after occupying the White House for more than three years.

A possible re-election slogan: "transitioning to greatness." That begs the question: Where is the US transitioning from: the depths of Hell?

A face covering, according to the CDC, is meant to protect others in the event that the wearer has the virus.

The narcissist-in-chief though doesn't care a lick about others. Americans get it. The Quinnipiac poll found that 56 percent of us say Trump doesn't care about average people.

The president shuns the mask because he feels it somehow conveys weakness, or an acknowledgement that COVID-19 is a deadly virus.

Trump's miserable response to the outbreak is the signature failure of his administration and the reason why the US death toll is moving to the 100K-mark. Fifty-six percent of Quinnipiac respondents disapprove of Trump's handling of the pandemic. That's up from 51 percent in April.

Voters believe Joe Biden would have done a better job in handling COVID-19 by a 55 percent to 39 percent margin. Hopefully, we'll find out if that is true.

Two can play that game. China has launched a Twitter barrage in a bid to distract attention from its cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its government has targeted the discredited report that COVID-19 originated in a Wuhan lab, a false claim that is parroted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

China's Foreign Affairs Ministry is spreading the conspiracy theory that the virus was born in the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, MD.

"Why not open up Fort Detrick & other bio-labs for international review?" tweeted the Ministry. "Why not invite WHO & international experts to the US to look into the COVID-19 source & response."

Twitter, which has promised to combat disinformation, is giving China a free pass.

Here's the policy: “Official government accounts engaging in conversation about the origins of the virus and global public conversation about potential emergent treatments will be permitted, unless the content contains clear incitement to take a harmful physical action."

Relations between China and the US are as tense as ever. Twitter needs to step up because in these crazy times there is a possibility of harmful physical action between China and the US. It may be triggered by a tweet.