CNN blasted the Trump campaign Saturday for once again holding a rally with supporters crowded closely together and very few people wearing masks, except for the obvious exception of those standing within camera view behind President Donald Trump.

CNN host Ana Cabrera noted that despite the pandemic, the Rose Garden event where Trump announced the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court featured “few masks, no social distancing.”

“Even Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, not practicing what he’s been preaching about taking coronavirus precautions,” said Cabrera as Azar and other attendees of the SCOTUS announcement were shown without face masks.

Cabrera introduced CNN corespondent Ryan Nobles, and asked “We saw very few masks at the Rose Garden ceremony earlier and we see a few masks behind the president, but what are you seeing out there in the crowd, because clearly, there isn’t any social distancing?”

“You know, Ana, this is like every single one of these campaign events for President Trump,” said Nobles. “There is little to almost no regard for the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. There are thousands and thousands of people here. They are packed in shoulder to shoulder. There are hardly any masks being worn.”

“You’re right to make note of the fact that all of the people sitting behind Trump are wearing masks,” he continued. “They’re basically the only ones, aside from those of us on the press riser, wearing masks and that’s a strategic ploy for the most part that’s put on by the Trump campaign. They hand out those masks, they ask the people sitting behind the president to wear them. It does not reflect the rest of the crowd. So it shows that the campaign realizes that there’s a problem in terms of the optics of these crows taking place.”

“It’s like they’re trying to have it both ways,” replied Cabrera.

Photos and videos from the Saturday rally in Pennsylvania showed, as Nobles described, a mostly maskless crowd standing close together, with the exception of the people standing immediately behind Trump, who had been given red and navy blue masks with a white “MAGA” slogan on them, all obviously of the same design, just as they had been at his rally Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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