A Tale of Two People Without Masks - Trump vs. Gov. Ralph Northam - and the Different Media Treatment

By Nick Arama | 10:30 PM on May 23, 2020

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AP featured image — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam prepares to address a news conference at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. Northam made a statement and answered questions about the late-term abortion bill that was killed in committee. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Some in media flipped out today that President Donald Trump dared to go golfing for the first time in months since the pandemic really changed habits.

On top of media chastising him for going golfing, as we reported, CNN played the Karen mask police and called him out for not wearing a mask on the golf course playing in the open air, a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.

CNN photojournalist @abdallahcnn got a shot of President Trump golfing today. He says the president is moving around the course in a golf cart alone but is golfing with three partners. None of the men are wearing masks. pic.twitter.com/WXYS6zDPNd

— Jason Hoffman (@JasonHoffman93) May 23, 2020

That, of course, incited the mask outrage crowd, despite not really being in a limited group with distance in between.

Meanwhile, there’s Governor Ralph Northam in Virginia. He’s considering enforcing a mask law.

Northam is now threatening to force everyone in Virginia to wear masks at all times. He has already done untold damage to the Commonwealth.https://t.co/qk6JqFdvYs

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 23, 2020

From Richmond:

Northam said the new mask policy would apply to all of Virginia, not just Richmond.

“Wearing a mask could literally save someone else’s life,” Northam said. “That is becoming clearer every day as we move further into managing this virus over the long term.”

But Northam was out in Virginia Beach today without a mask, apparently without social distancing, very close to people.

He’s at VA Beach today with no mask and no social distance. pic.twitter.com/d2lg04YcrX

— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) May 23, 2020

Rules for thee but not for me.

— Beth Baumann (@eb454) May 23, 2020

Another 😷 pic.twitter.com/oAqUE3ZaNU

— A (@johnwelIs) May 23, 2020

National media criticism for Democrat Northam? None at all, not even a comment. There’s some local coverage but that’s it. Quite unlike the critical media coverage of Trump. And this despite the fact that Northam is going against his own pronouncements.

Gee, wonder what the difference is between Trump and Northam?

Although I suppose we should be glad that Northam isn’t wearing a mask — it didn’t work out so well the last time.