Democratic politicians from California to Georgia and New York are getting caught with their masks down, an embarrassing faux pas in liberal circles that also is adding to the impetus to nix the unpopular mandates before the November elections.
Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who for the second time is running for governor in Georgia, deleted a photo over the weekend that pictured her seated unmasked in a classroom full of masked children. She follows a litany of officials who flaunted COVID-19 rules they’ve imposed on a pandemic-weary public.
Other prominent politicians caught barefaced include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who were all pictured at the Rams-49ers game at SoFi Stadium last week, flouting the state’s mask mandate, which has been extended until at least Feb. 15.
All three said they temporarily removed their masks for pictures. Mr. Garcetti said he was holding his breath.
Two of New York’s top lawmakers, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have also been recently pictured flouting the state’s indoor mask requirements.
They’re all catching heat for not following the rules they fervently impose on everyone else.
“Every Democrat that gets caught with their mask down reinforces for voters that there are basically two sets of rules: one for the elites and one for everybody else,” said Cally Perkins, spokeswoman for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super Pac dedicated to electing GOP candidates. “That’s a precarious position for Democrats to defend as Americans are frustrated that their lives are still not returning to any sense of normalcy.”
The public’s frustration with COVID-19 mandates has started to resonate with more Democratic leaders in blue states who now say it’s time to lift the mandates.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, announced on Monday that he would lift school mask mandates on March 7. Delaware’s Democratic Gov. John Carney announced indoor mask mandates in public settings would end on Feb. 11. The state’s school mask mandate, however, will continue until March 31.
Denver recently ended its indoor mask mandate and Portland City Council on Monday was considering doing the same.
The relinquishing of mandates closely tracks public opinion.
A recnet Monmouth University Poll found 78% of Americans agreed that “we just need to get on with our lives,” despite the COVID pandemic. Among those polled 52% backed mask mandates, the lowest number since July, when the virus was at its lowest ebb.
The photo of a maskless Ms. Abrams quickly drew ridicule and anger, particularly from parents who are fighting the prolonged mask mandates in schools that they argue make it difficult for children to learn and thrive.
“This is maddening,” Republican political strategist Rory Cooper, an advocate for ending masks in schools, tweeted.
Mr. Cooper is among increasingly vocal parents who are fighting the COVID mask mandates and other restrictions imposed by blue-state political leaders that have dragged on for nearly two years.
Still, some leaders in blue states are doubling down on mask mandates despite a public that is increasingly fed up.
Northern Virginia officials have joined a lawsuit fighting an order by newly minted Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, that ended mask mandates in the state’s public schools.
The debate is now at the forefront of the midterm election battles and the GOP is eager to weaponize blue state mandates and maskless Democrats.
Republicans are guided by Mr. Youngkin’s stunning defeat of Democrat and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in November, which was aided by frustrated public school parents who were seeking an end to COVID restrictions.
Former Sen. David Perdue, a Republican running in the Georgia Governor’s race, not only slammed Ms. Abrams for posting her unmasked photo, he has plastered the now-infamous picture atop his Twitter feed with the caption “Unmask Our Kids.”
Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican who heads the Senate’s GOP fundraising arm, called the Abrams photo “a perfect encapsulation of Democrats’ Covid hypocrisy and staunch support for anti-science school mask mandates.”
House Democrats are stumbling into the mask mishap, too.
On Sunday, Rep. Elissa Slotkin kicked off her re-election campaign by posing maskless in front of a roomful of masked supporters in Owosso, Michigan.
The House Republican fundraising arm took notice.
Republicans are just a handful of seats away from reclaiming the House majority and the GOP considers Ms. Slotkin a top target. Ms. Slotkin’s seat is rated a toss-up by election analysts.
“Elissa Slotkin supports mask mandates for everyone but herself. She is a complete hypocrite,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg said in a statement.
While Michigan does not mandate masks in schools or public places statewide, officials recommend universal masking to mitigate the spread of the virus and many Michigan school districts continue to mandate all-day mask-wearing in school. The list includes Owosso, which extended the requirement until at least Feb. 21.
In New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul is challenging a court ruling against her state-wide mask mandate, fellow Democrat and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman appeared in a Jan. 31 tweet with a group of six students at New Rochelle High School. The students were masked, Mr. Bowman was not.
Two days later, Mr. Bowman in a tweet urged the public to “make sure to mask up, stay safe and get boosted,” to protect the elderly and immunocompromised.
The Instagram account for Little Italy in the Bronx posted a photo over the weekend of an unmasked and smiling Mr. Adams in several indoor restaurant photos.
Mr. Adams, meanwhile, is prolonging the city’s public school mask mandate as state officials challenge a New York Supreme Court ruling that declared it unconstitutional.
Mrs. Hochul hasn’t indicated when she’ll lift the statewide mandate. The state’s infection dropped 43% and the hospitalization rate has declined significantly but as of Feb. 3, 5,800 people were hospitalized with the virus and 110 new COVID-related deaths were recorded.
Mrs. Hochul last week said she’ll keep the mandate in place beyond Feb. 10 when it was set to expire, as she waits for more children to be vaccinated.
“We’re not taking our foot off the gas when it comes to fighting the pandemic,” Mrs. Hochul said. “The masks are one element of that.”
Mrs. Hochul, who took over when Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment charges, is running for a full four-year term in November.
Republican opponent and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin demanded Hochul end the mask mandates immediately.
“It makes ZERO sense for Hochul to continue subjecting New York’s kids to her Cuomo-Esque ego, stubbornness and emperor mentality,” Mr. Zeldin said on Twitter. “She’s really just being a jerk at this point because of her own character flaws. All COVID mandates should end TODAY!”
