Fauci said 'macho guy' Trump saw masks as a 'sign of weakness' and many Americans followed his lead

<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/6011c9806dfbe10018e00556-2000/gettyimages-1216627233.jpg" border="0" alt="Trump, Dr. Fauci, Birx briefing masks mask" data-mce-source="Jabin Botsford/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Dr. Anthony Fauci in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/anthony-fauci-trump-biden-and-covid-19-crisis/617838/">a new interview with the Atlantic</a> said that former President Donald Trump's views on masculinity were likely behind his reluctance to wear a mask in public and set an example for the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;</p><p>Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official, was asked why Trump wouldn't "routinely wear a mask."</p><p>"It's really tough to get into his head, but I think what was going on with him is he was not interested in the outbreak," Fauci said. "The outbreak to him was an inconvenient truth that he didn't accept as a truth. It's something that got in the way of what he really wanted to do."</p><p>"He's a pretty macho guy," Fauci, who's now President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, went on to say of Trump. "It's almost like it diminishes one's manhood to wear a mask. To him, a mask was a sign of weakness. The unfortunate aspect of this is that a lot of people in the country took that on as a mantra. That's the problem."</p><p>As president, Trump habitually disregarded public health recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wears-face-mask-in-public-for-first-time-coronavirus-2020-7">wearing a mask or face-covering</a> while in public.</p><p>He also frequently contradicted top experts like Fauci with misleading or inaccurate comments on the virus, and diminished the impact of the pandemic on the US. The former president in a recorded interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward said that he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-repeatedly-downplayed-covid-19-after-telling-woodward-very-deadly-2020-9">deliberately downplayed the threat of COVID-19</a> to the public because he wanted to avoid inducing "panic."&nbsp;</p><p>Trump held several rallies during the pandemic during which many of his supporters could be seen not wearing masks.</p><p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/6011c7b66dfbe10018e00548-2000/Minnesota.jpg" border="0" alt="Minnesota" data-mce-source="Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Supporters of President Donald Trump wait in line to attend a campaign rally with the president at Rochester International Airport October 30, 2020 in Rochester, Minnesota."></p><p>During a presidential debate in September, Trump mocked Biden for consistently wearing a mask. "Every time you see him, he's got a mask," <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1311865051029135360'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1311865051029135360%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheintercept.com%2F2020%2F10%2F02%2Ftrump-tests-positive-covid-48-hours-mocking-biden-wearing-mask%2F">Trump said</a> of the future president. "He could be speaking 200 feet away ... and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen." Two days later, Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized because of it.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>On Trump's last full day in office, <a href="https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-deaths-2029a1c8-1e2f-42f0-bf49-b6c0c5dd1ff8.html">the US surpassed 400,000 reported COVID-19 deaths</a>.</p><p>Asked if people died as a result of the example Trump set, Fauci told the Atlantic, "I don't want to say that. The reason I don't is that someone will take it out of context and say, 'Fauci said that the president killed people.' I don't want to go there."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-macho-guy-trump-saw-masks-a-sign-of-weakness-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-symphony-seas-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-deals-with-waste-2020-3">How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship</a></p>
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