Arizonans who have debated the use of masks during the pandemic say President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump testing positive for COVID-19 doesn’t change their opinions.

Those with concerns about masks don’t fit into an easy box. They have varied views; some oppose the mandates as government overreach, while others aren’t convinced that masks are effective.

But residents who spoke with The Arizona Republic on Friday agreed on one thing: The latest news doesn’t change their perspectives. 

Trump tweeted late on Thursday (Arizona time) that he and the first lady had tested positive. He was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, in what aides said was a precautionary move.

Dozens of public and private Facebook groups with hundreds and thousands of members on Friday still were urging people not to wear masks.

Some see no emergency

Despite the virus infecting the president, Scottsdale realtor Gail Golec said she is increasingly frustrated by the push to wear masks. 

“This is no longer an emergency,” she told The Republic on Friday.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says face coverings reduce the spread of respiratory droplets that spread the novel coronavirus, Golec doesn’t agree. She’s convinced masks are harmful as people, including children who are required to wear them at school, breathe in bacteria that can collect on them. 

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Golec said she doesn’t wear masks, despite Maricopa County and city mask mandates that have required all residents to wear them since June.

“I will not comply to this tyranny,” Golec said. “This is not a public health emergency.”

Others don’t think virus can be contained

Gold Canyon resident David Day said he can’t speak to the effectiveness of masks, but noted that most people he sees are using scarves, handkerchiefs or other non-medical grade masks. 

Day said he works in the service industry and wore masks to protect his customers at work, but was disheartened that he was not afforded the same courtesy. He said he has since stopped wearing masks when going out in public.

“No one cares about my health, so I have a hard time caring about theirs,” he said.

Day doesn’t downplay the coronavirus, but he said he believes it is past the point of containment.

He’s confident the president will recover. “I don’t think for a minute he’s going to let something like that overcome him,” Day said.

Stacy McKnight, who lives 10 miles outside of Wickenburg, said she wasn’t surprised to hear about the president’s diagnosis. Like Day, she believes the virus will eventually move through the general public.

McKnight also said she’s confident the president will make a full recovery, but she believes Democrats and the media could use the development to “fear-monger.”

McKnight also echoed Golec’s comments about the effectiveness of masks, calling them a “docking bay on your mouth for germs to sit on.”

McKnight said she worries that wearing masks could negatively impact immune systems by preventing the wearer from building their resilience.

“I feel like people have been misinformed as to how much they’re helping and that saddens me,” she said.

Some say risk factors must be considered

Jared Taylor, a Town Council member in Gilbert, doesn’t deny the pandemic, but said he opposes mask mandates and says research is not settled on the effectiveness of face coverings.

Taylor sees mask mandates are a “blunt instrument” when “a little more surgical” precision is required.

Taylor said he wears a mask when required and when the situation necessitates.

“Everyone is not in the same risk category,” he said, referencing the virus’s heavier toll on older people and other variables. 

Trump is 74, while Taylor is 47.

The president and first lady’s positive test results don’t change his views, as he said they operate in a different world from the average person, with frequent travel and exposure to many people.

“They probably should wear masks more than they do. I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t caught it sooner given his travel schedule,” Taylor said.

Amanda Santina, a Surprise resident who regularly speaks out against mask mandates, said the fact that Trump got the virus is a sign that it’s not going away.

“You got to look at how often (Trump) gets tested and all the people around him and how tight they keep him, and he still got it,” Santina said. “So that tells you this is something that we’re just going to have to work through.”

Like Taylor, Santina said that wearing a mask should be a personal choice based on risk factors. 

“If you have other comorbidities that might increase your chances (of developing complications), then you need to stay in and mask up and take extra precautions,” Santina said. “But if you’re a normal, healthy person like me and my family, we should be able to go out freely and breathe the free air that God gave us.”

Others wear masks, but oppose mandates

Loraine Pellegrino, the former president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women, said that she takes the pandemic seriously and obeys health protocols, including wearing masks, when out in the community talking with voters.

But she said Republicans tend to balk at government mandates that overreach and dictate how people should behave. 

She said she wasn’t shocked that Trump contracted the virus because of his active campaign schedule, but she said she is pulling for him and the first lady to recover and develop antibodies to the virus.

“I don’t want the president to get a cold, let alone COVID,” Pellegrino said. “He sees so many people and people are very warm towards him. I appreciate that he has actually been out there among the people.”

Bill Crawford, a Scottsdale gym owner, has been a vocal opponent of the mask mandates and business closures that have accompanied the pandemic. But Crawford said he tries to be a responsible citizen when out in public and wears a mask out of concern for his fellow residents.

MORE: Scottsdale’s largest employer at odds with city over mask mandate

Ultimately, Crawford said the disease blindsided the public and that the public has learned as they went along. “As we learn we change our behavior and opinions,” Crawford said.

The president’s diagnosis doesn’t change Crawford’s views, but he said it was likely to be a “life-changing experience” for Trump. 

“This could be a speedbump, where he comes out of it pounding on his chest,” Crawford said. “Or it could have significant consequences, and it could cost him the election.”

‘What’s important is we look forward’

Trump supporter Joe Pitts is also a supporter of masks and mask mandates.

He is an Arizona State University student and president of the ASU College Republicans.

Pitts said wearing masks and mask mandates were a good idea, despite states like Michigan, California, Nevada or New York that have applied arbitrary and sometimes “Draconian” restrictions related to public health.

“This is a new thing to navigate for many people,” Pitts said. “It’s a once-in-a-century pandemic.”

Pitts commended several aspects of the Trump administration’s early pandemic response, including giving state’s the autonomy to make their own decisions and shutting down travel to Europe and China, a move that Pitts credited with saving lives.

“Clearly hindsight is 20/20,” Pitts said. “In 10 years from now, our history books will be full of what was missed and what wasn’t done. I do think what’s important now is that we look forward we see, ‘Where can we go from here?'”

Pitts ultimately said that he wore a mask before the president’s diagnosis and he will continue to wear a mask after.

“The pandemic poses a threat to the American people and we need to make sure we’re managing it correctly,” he said.

Have a tip? Reach the reporter Lorraine Longhi at [email protected] or 480-243-4086. Follow her on Twitter @lolonghi.

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