'Grow Up': Donald Trump Criticized for Calling Out White House Reporter for Wearing a Mask During Press Conference

President Donald Trump was ridiculed after he singled out San Francisco Chronicle Washington correspondent Shira Stein for wearing a face mask in the Oval Office.

Trump took questions from the press after announcing he signed a new executive order imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports of automobiles and certain auto parts on Monday, March 24.

Stein asked the GOP leader, "Mr. President, you said you want to return education control to the states. How would you handle it if a state like California were to put in place education policies that you don’t agree with?"

President Trump interrupted to comment on her mask, saying, "You know, I haven’t seen a mask in so long! You’re wearing a mask! So nice of you! I haven’t seen anybody wearing a mask in a long time. It’s good. You feel more comfortable, right?"

She replied, "Yes."

Trump then said, "Good. That’s good."

Clips of the interaction between Trump and Stein made the rounds across social media, leading to a fierce debate, as some people were convinced the president's remarks were a sarcastic jab at the reporter.

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared the Oval Office clip and pointed out: "Y'all know people wear those masks when their [sic] sick and don’t wanna spread sickness right? It’s not just a COVID thing. Grow up."

Another X user took Trump's side and commented: "He's so right. Who wears a mask anymore, especially if you're a reporter?"

A third person shared: "People seem to forget that there’s two reasons that you wear a mask, possibly to help protect yourself (especially if you’re immunocompromised) but also to protect others."

Later during the press event, Stein was able to ask her question about the Department of Education.

She asked, "You said you want to return education control to the states. How would you handle it if a state like California were to put in place education policies you disagree with?"

"Well, I think that California is going to be tougher because they are — they’re doing badly on everything they do. You know, everything they touch turns bad. So a place like California would be tougher for education," Trump responded.

"But what I would see with California is you’d have a Los Angeles department and you’d had Riverside. You’d have, you know, you’d go to various places. And I think you’d some great areas in California, and then you’d something like everything else that doesn’t work so well," he continued. "But ultimately, I think it would be very successful."

In 2020, Trump was far more critical and aggressive with reporters wearing face coverings around him.

He once demanded that Jeff Mason, a journalist for Reuters, remove his mask because his speech was "muffled."

When Mason began to ask his question, Trump immediately cut him off and said, "You're going to have to take that [the mask] off, please. You can take it off. How many feet are you away?"

Mason refused to remove his face covering and instead offered to speak louder, before the commander-in-chief cut him off again, saying, "Well, if you don't take it off, you're very muffled, so if you would take it off, it would be a lot easier."

The reporter stood his ground and kept his mask on, choosing to instead speak louder as he asked his question.