Trump’s ex-intelligence chief uses old photo to attack Biden for not wearing mask

A photo posted on Twitter shows Joe Biden a year ago not wearing a face mask on a plane, and has been used by Richard Grenell to attack the Democrat candidate

Richard Grenell tweeted a photo from November 2019 (left) to criticise Joe Biden for not wearing a face mask on a plane (Twitter)

Donald Trump’s former intelligence chief has been mocked for posting a photo criticising Joe Biden for not wearing a mask — taken in 2019.

Richard Grenell, who was acting director of national intelligence from February until May this year, tweeted the image on Sunday afternoon of Mr Biden on a plane in November 2019, and him on the campaign trail in recent months.

“Washington, DC phony!” he said.

“@JoeBiden doesn’t wear a mask on a plane - but wears one OUTSIDE!?”

Social media users were swift to point out that the photo of Mr Biden without a mask was taken months before the pandemic broke out.

That did not stop detractors of the Democrat candidate from “liking” his photo 35,000 times.

Fox News host Mark Levin then retweeted the image to his 2.4 million followers.

Mr Grenell, 54, the current special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, has not deleted the image.

“Posted by the former acting director of national intelligence.  Embarrassing,” said one.

“Careful, you'll outstupid Donald. You know how he hates to lose,” said another.

Another commented: “I've never seen a political campaign have so little to run on. You people can't find ONE thing legitimate thing to attack on. It's really sad!”

Mr Grenell has since doubled down on his attacks, posting a series of photos of Joe Biden without a face mask.

The context of the photos was not clear; however, the Democratic candidate does remove his mask to speak on stage, when he is separated from others by a large distance. His rallies have all been drive-in, with people watching from the safety of their cars.

Mr Trump, in contrast, has continued to defy CDC guidelines and hold mass rallies, many of them with large crowds of maskless fans.

Researchers from Stanford University published a study on Friday showing that 18 Trump campaign rallies "ultimately resulted" in more than 30,000 incremental confirmed Covid-19 cases and likely led to more than 700 deaths.