On July 1, 2020, Trump repeated past claims that COVID-19 would “at some point just sort of disappear.”

Trump also claimed in the interview that he had “always been for” masks. However, he long refused to wear a mask, even when touring medical device facilities where it was required. In one such instance, he told the media he purposefully avoided wearing one because he didn’t want “to give the press the pleasure.”

He commented further that he liked how he looked in them, likening it to “the lone ranger.”

On that day, the United States totaled 2,779,719 cases and 130,761 deaths.

Trump downplayed concerns over COVID-19 as it first spread within the United States and throughout the following months.

Axios – Trump says he still thinks coronavirus will “just disappear” at some point
The Independent – Trump again claims coronavirus is ‘going to just disappear’ as US sees record number of new cases
Worldometer – Coronavirus Cases, United States