Jeanine Pirro's mask-wearing: is she riling Trump's base, or just cautious?

“Wearing my mask out east,” a recent Instagram post by the Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was captioned. Who would have known that the photo, showing Pirro in an outside dining area in New York wearing a patterned mask would cause so much drama.

Related: If more Americans wore masks the pandemic would slow, experts say

Then again, Pirro – the former judge who briefly sought the Republican nomination for president against Hilary Clinton, who routinely stands up for Donald Trump (she wrote an entire book about a supposed anti-Trump conspiracy) – must have been somewhat prepared for the backlash. She also posted a photo of herself wearing a mask back in April, much to the dislike of her 800,000-plus largely conservative following.

She did it again in June. So the third time around, it is almost as if she is goading them – smiling (with her eyes, at least) in a pretty white dress, as if to say “come at me”.

The response to her latest post is a mixture of conspiracy, insults and hyperbole. “Don’t normalize the mask please don’t do that,” one person commented without giving a reason why. Some said the photo was tantamount to propaganda – which perhaps doesn’t seem so bad, if you believe the CDC’s guidance that wearing a mask slows the spread of the coronavirus – only, it seems that many of Pirro’s followers do not.

A number referred to the coronavirus pandemic as a “Democratic hoax” to undermine the president – a belief Pirro should be well-acquainted with, seeing as she has had members of Trump’s family come on her own show to endorse it. People accused Pirro of not believing in freedom – apparently mask-wearing is just one step on a long road to more government intervention, a road which many of Pirro’s followers believe ends in dictatorship. Capital letters abounded. Insults were hurled. And a lot of faulty logic was used. Some questioned the safety of mask-wearing, by calling for even more extreme measures – like wearing goggles to protect ones eyes from the coronavirus – although there is not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that would work.

Others seemed to believe that because a mask can’t completely stop air-droplets from escaping into the air, it shouldn’t be used at all: “I thought you were smart enough to know that using masks to stop a virus is like using a chain link fence to stop mosquitoes. C’mon ma’am. Please be real,” said one person.

But of course, some came to Pirro’s defense. “Lmao are Americans ok? We’re in the middle.of a global pandemic & y’all are shaming someone for wearing a mask😂😂😂😂😂,” one person commented. Others supported Pirro’s mask-wearing, questioning the logic of those who believe they stand for freedom, while telling a woman she has no right to choose what is right for herself: “This comment section is terrifying! Ignoring real science and being selfish isn’t something to be proud of and if you really believe in freedom you shouldn’t judge her for doing what’s she knows is right,” it said.

At the moment, when mask-wearing to stop the spread of a virus in a pandemic has become highly politicized, it is possible that Pirro was trolling her followers, who were sure to be up in arms at her latest photo. Perhaps she was even encouraging them to take heed. Or she may just want her and those around her to stay alive.