'An issue with makeup?’ MSNBC’s Mika struggles to make sense of Trump’s refusal to wear a mask

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski tried to make sense of President Donald Trump's refusal to wear a mask.

The president wouldn't commit to wearing a face covering during a tour Wednesday of a Ford plant in Michigan, which the manufacturer requires inside its facilities as a safety precaution, and the "Morning Joe" co-host was puzzled.

"I just -- what -- what is the deal with not wearing a mask?" Brzezinski said. "I mean, it is so basic and, I mean -- is it an issue with makeup or his appearance? I'm -- I'm just confused because it is such a clear guideline to protect others, and also for the president it would be a chance to really be an example of safe practices."

Associated Press correspondent Jonathan Lemire said the president had political reasons for eschewing masks.

"Mika, my colleagues and I reported a couple weeks ago we were first on this, that the president was telling people that he didn't want to wear a mask in public because he was afraid he would send the wrong image," Lemire said. "His focus is the economy, it's not the health crisis here. He is trying to desperately turn the page on the 90,000-plus death total, the questions about testing, the questions about a vaccine."

"He's trying to urge states to move forward, to push governors to fully reopen," he added. "It's happening slowly, but he believes the economy has to turn around for him to have any chance this November. He thinks wearing a mask who perhaps distract from that. He thinks it shows a sign of weakness, he doesn't like how he would look in a mask. He's afraid of a negative campaign ad. He doesn't want to be there, he doesn't want the image of him in a mask appearing on television or in a [Joe] Biden advertisement."

Trump simply doesn't care about serving as a positive role model.

"He's never, to be clear, really embraced the idea of a presidency as a role model," Lemire said. "He's never, in terms of trying to set an example for the nation's children, let's say, some of his predecessors have really taken that as part of the job responsibility. This president is far more consumed about the day-to-day media battles than trying to set an example for the country, even on something that his own health experts recommend doing wearing a mask.