President Trump said Friday he didn’t wear a face mask while honoring elderly World War II veterans—just one day after his personal valet tested positive for the coronavirus—because he was “very far away from them” and “they’re so pure, it will never happen.” “I would have loved to have gone up and hugged them because they are great. I had a conversation with everyone, but we were very far away. You saw,” Trump said during a meeting with GOP members of Congress. “Plus the wind was blowing so hard in such a direction that if the plague ever reached them, I’d be very surprised.”

Trump joked that reporters “only worried” about the veterans who participated in the 75th anniversary celebration of WWII victory in Europe—and not him. “That’s OK because I think they’re so pure, it will never happen. Alright? They’ve lived a great life. But no, the wind was howling. And I didn’t see anybody with masks, I don’t know, maybe there were. But they were great.” Vice President Mike Pence’s spokesperson Katie Miller also tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday.