D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser denied breaking her own mask mandate at a wedding Saturday night, despite photo evidence showing her seated maskless at a table.
The Washington Examiner first reported late Saturday that Bowser, a Democrat, had officiated a wedding attended by “hundreds of unmasked guests” at the five-star hotel The Line DC in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The Examiner included a photograph of the mayor seated at an indoor table maskless, noting that Bowser “did not wear a mask despite not actively eating or drinking.” Several other guests in the picture also are not wearing masks.
Bowser’s office denied to The Daily Caller News Foundation that the mayor violated her own mask mandate, saying that she was “in compliance with the mandate.”
The mayor’s office also criticized “conservative media outlets” for “reports riddled with disinformation.”
“On Saturday, July 31st, Mayor Bowser officiated an outdoor, rooftop wedding ceremony, followed by an indoor dinner,” Bowser’s office said in a statement, adding:
The mayor wore a mask indoors in compliance with the mandate, and the organizers and venue staff worked to create a safe environment for the staff and guests. The Friday, July 30th evening event called into question by conservative media was outdoors, on a rooftop.
Bowser’s office did not address the photo published by the Examiner that showed her maskless.
The mayor announced Thursday that she was reinstating the city’s indoor mask mandate beginning Saturday, citing concerns regarding the delta variant of COVID-19.
“Given the trends in cases that we see, we want to get ahead of it, nip it in the bud,” Bowser said. “We know masks can be very effective in doing that.”
This is not the first time that Bowser has been caught breaking the COVID-19 rules she asked citizens to follow. The mayor traveled to President Joe Biden’s victory speech after the Nov. 3 election in “high risk” Delaware, despite the D.C. Health Department’s travel requirements.
The mayor later excused the trip by saying it was essential travel that was exempt under the D.C. restrictions.
“On Saturday, Mayor Bowser attended the remarks of the president-elect and the vice president-elect and met with a few people on their team,” Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said in November. “She went on Saturday evening and returned the same evening for this essential travel.”
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