The Political Insider

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump repeated that he was opposed to issuing a national mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is, by the way, a lot of people who don’t want to wear masks,” Trump said. “There are a lot of people that think the masks are not good.”

RELATED: Joe Biden Admits His National Mask Mandate Idea Is Unconstitutional

“There Are People That Don’t Think Masks Are Good’

During an ABC News town hall hosted by George Stephanopoulos, the host asked Trump why he did not support a national mask mandate.

The President mentioned watching waiters serving at a restaurant touching plates of food after touching their masks to adjust them.

“The concept of a mask is good, but … you are constantly touching it, touching your face, touching plates,” the President said. “There are people that don’t think masks are good.”

Trump noted that his 2020 Democratic White House rival Joe Biden called for a national mask mandate during his party’s convention, but then walked back the idea.

“They checked out and they didn’t do it,” he said.

President Trump Fires Back At Critics

Trump also fired back at critics who charge that the President’s initial response to the virus downplayed how dangerous it was.

“I didn’t downplay it,” Trump said. “I actually, in many ways, I up-played it in terms of action.”

The President added that despite Democrats heavily criticizing his ban on travel from China, that action in fact saved millions of lives.

“I was so far ahead of my closing,” Trump pointed out, noting that Biden called the threat exaggerated and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was encouraging people to visit Chinatown in San Francisco.

RELATED: Utah Students Who Are Caught Without Masks In School May Be Hit With Criminal Charges, Even Kindergartners

Trump also defended his statement that coronavirus would eventually disappear.

“It’s going to disappear, George,” he said to the ABC News host. “We’re going to get back.”

“It’s going to be herd development, and that’s going to happen. That will all happen,” Trump added. “But with a vaccine, I think it will go away very quickly.”