On CNN Tuesday, anchor Jim Sciutto grilled Trump campaign official Marc Lotter on the mask policy at the upcoming "Students for Trump" rally in Arizona.
"The administration has often said let the states decide, let local leaders decide how to respond," said Sciutto. "So the city has a policy requiring face masks, but that will not be enforced during the president's rally. Why is that?"
"This is not an official campaign event, but an outside group that's doing this and they're making masks available," said Lotter. "This is what it's about in America, giving people information, giving them the resources and then letting them exercise their freedom, their first — you know, their choice, to whether they want to wear the masks themselves or whether they feel safe enough and not doing so."
"But don't you want the president to be on a leader on this?" said Sciutto. "At the last event, several of his own campaign tested positive for it, including two Secret Service members. The science — you talk about science, science is very clear here that wearing a mask — wearing a mask greatly reduces it. So why isn't he leading on this?"
"He is leading on this, giving them freedom and people can decide," said Lotter.
"You know that indoor events with crowds — again, this is the science, not opinion — are particularly good at spreading this infection," said Sciutto. "We are all taking precautions. You're doing this interview from home as a result because you know the risk of transmission is real. Why not inform those people coming out to the president, why not choose then an outdoor venue where the risk would be lower?"
"Well, this is an event we — I did not schedule this event," said Lotter.
"Tulsa was indoors," pointed out Sciutto. "That was a campaign event."
"It was a venue that was available," said Lotter. "If people don't feel comfortable to go to the event, then they're free not to go. We're letting people make the decisions for themselves."
Watch below:
