Golf Club Guests Cheer Trump as He Says They Don't Have to Wear Masks:

President Donald Trump held a surprise news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey Friday night. But that wasn't the only surprise of the night for reporters covering the commander in chief. As members of the White House press pool waited for the president to start the briefing, they reported members and guests of the president's private country club were packed inside, also waiting for the show to start.

Country club members awaiting the president pic.twitter.com/cm9FOvtoC9

- Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 7, 2020

there's currently dozens of unmasked bedminster patrons the president has invited to the bedminster ballroom where he's scheduled to hold his press conference - a number drinking wine. btw here's the NJ regulations for golf courses https://t.co/Ybq5deiojA pic.twitter.com/XFXUr3GVQK

- Justin Sink (@justinsink) August 7, 2020

Dozens of people were standing close together in the room, seemingly caring little about social distancing guidelines while only a few were wearing masks. After reporters began tweeting photos of the largely unmasked crowd and pointing out that they were violating New Jersey Covid-19 regulations, staffers began handing out masks to the crowd after they had already been standing right next to each other for about half an hour. One reporter covering the event tweeted that a club official told the crowd to "spread out a little bit" because " the tweets are going out."

Awaiting @POTUS presser in Bedminster. Many members of his club are here not social distancing and not wearing masks.

A club official just told the crowd to "spread out a little bit" because "the tweets are going out" about their noncompliance with NJ regulations pic.twitter.com/bzyLVwqS0u

- Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) August 7, 2020

Masks have now been handed out to visitors who are observing the president's press conference. pic.twitter.com/dCFo5Z0744

- Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) August 7, 2020

In the question-and-answer portion of the briefing, a reporter specifically brought up the crowd who got an up-close view of the president while questioning Trump's claim that the coronavirus is "disappearing" in the country. "You said that the pandemic is disappearing, but we lost 6,000 Americans this week and just in this room you have dozens of people who are not following the guidelines in New Jersey," the reporter said. The crowd started booing and Trump quickly pushed back against the reporter's claim as he came to the defense of his paying members. "You are wrong on that, because it is a political activity. They have exceptions ... and it is also a peaceful protest," Trump said.

Trump's paying Bedminster customers boo when a reporter points out that many of them aren't wearing masks, violating New Jersey law. Trump defends them by describing them as "peaceful protesters" of the media, then ends the news conference to a round of applause. pic.twitter.com/5DVow55B1G

- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 8, 2020

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The crowd clapped and cheered the president as the news conference suddenly took on the feel of a small Trump rally. "To me they all look like they pretty much all have masks on," Trump said before going on to double down on his claim that the club members were actually there to protest the media and that's why they were exempt from the state's rules that were put in place to stem the spread of Covid-19. "They heard you were coming up, and they know the news is fake. They understand it better than anybody," he said. "If the press in this country were honest, if it wasn't corrupt, if it wasn't fake, our country would be much further ahead." Trump then ended the news conference as club members clapped.

Aside from the clear public health issues, the optics of POTUS addressing his country club members who pay at up to $350,000 to join while millions of Americans don't know how they'll cover rent this month as expanded unemployment benefits have expired is-an interesting choice. https://t.co/0Fl9ihm9do

- Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) August 7, 2020