Coronavirus: Mask factory played ‘Live and Let Die’ during Trump visit

Executives had to shout above ‘Live and Let Die’ which played during Donald Trump’s tour around Phoenix’s N-95 mask plant on Tuesday

Donald Trump did not wear a mask during his visit to an Arizona mask manufacturing plant on Tuesday, which played the Guns N’ Roses cover of James Bond theme song “Live and Let Die” during the event.

Mr Trump arrived alongside other White House officials in Phoenix, Arizona, to watch the production of millions of N-95 medical masks worn by medical staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, who has been unwilling to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic, said on Tuesday morning that he would “if it was a mask environment”.

Workers could be seen wearing masks, whilst a sign read that all persons should wear masks, as the White House entourage looked on with goggles.

With a soundtrack that included Trump rally classics such as Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”, Mr Trump watched bins being filled with N-95 masks on order from the federal government.

The presidential tour on Tuesday climaxed when the chorus of “Live and Let Die” played over a Honeywell executive’s explanation of how the material protected wearers from the virus that has now claimed more than 70,000 American lives.

“If this ever-changing world in which we live in / Makes you give in and cry / say live and let die” blared on the PA system as the plant executive shouted over the Guns N’ Roses cover of the popular James Bond theme ‘Live and Let Die”, written by Paul McCartney.

Coming on the same day that the White House confirmed it would disband its coronavirus task force within weeks, commentators provided their own take on Tuesday’s presidential spectacle.

“I can think of no better metaphor for this presidency than Donald Trump not wearing a face mask to a face mask factory while the song ‘Live and Let Die’ blares in the background”, said television host Jimmy Kimmel on Twitter.

Others noted how neither Mr Trump, nor his entourage or Honeywell representatives, appeared to practice the president’s own social distancing’s guidelines at times during the tour.

Americans have also been encouraged by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to adorn masks since April to avoid spreading the virus.

Other songs played on the presidential visit on Tuesday included the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”.

A White House official said afterwards that Honeywell had told the White House that president Trump and other visitors did not need to wear masks.