After months of resisting wearing one, Trump says wearing mask 'patriotic' in tweet

President Donald Trump on Monday offered his strongest endorsement for wearing face masks in public, tweeting that it is a “Patriotic” action to take during the coronavirus pandemic.

For months Trump has been refusing to encourage mask wearing as a way to combat the coronavirus.

Also read: They could have stopped the virus but didn't — Trump lashes out at China again

“There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!” Trump tweeted.

"We are united in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance," Trump wrote.

The tweet from the president appearing to endorse the use of face coverings in public follows months of mixed messages on whether he believed they were an essential tool to help prevent transmission of the disease.

The stylish photo and exhortation for Americans to unite around masks was a far cry from Trump's longtime mocking of masks as symbols of weakness during a pandemic that he has repeatedly suggested is overblown.

However, his tweet stopped well short of endorsing calls from some for a nationwide mandate to wear masks in public.

The nation's top medical authorities -- backed by several leading Republican figures -- say that mask wearing is crucial to halting the disease.

Amid a fierce resurgence of the virus in southern and western states -- including some that are Republican strongholds -- Trump has come under new pressure to change his tune.

He only wore a mask in public for the first time on July 11.By contrast, his Democratic challenger in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, has worn a mask in public for months.

(With inputs from AFP)