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Vice President Kamala Harris was ripped by critics this week for appearing on stage without a mask while surrounded by masked schoolchildren during a visit Monday to Thomas Elementary School in Washington, D.C.
The visit, highlighting the Biden administration's plan to upgrade public school facilities and make them more energy efficient, added to a string of instances in which Democratic politicians have appeared maskless in public while urging or mandating others to continue masking as a measure to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris appears on stage unmasked with a group of masked school children at Thomas Elementary School in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 4, 2022. (Screenshot/PBS)
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Critics took to social media to blast Harris, with some arguing her not having to wear a mask, unlike the children who did under the school's mask-optional guidance, embodied the potential future under Democratic leadership, and others ripping the inequality of the double standard. Some maskless students also met with Harris during the visit.
"Kamala Harris walked up to the stage unmasked, meanwhile, all the children behind her are masked. This is the future Democrats want," wrote Republican National Committee rapid response director Tommy Pigott.
"In the Democrats' anti-science dystopia, the only person who doesn't need to wear a mask is Kamala Harris," he added.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed Harris for not holding herself to the same standard expected of the schoolchildren. "Kamala Harris: Rules for thee but not for me," he wrote.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for posing maskless with a group of masked school children on Monday, April 4, 2022. (Screenshot/Twitter)
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Former Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives turned radio host Tim Jones used the scene to describe the Democrat Party as "the fascist party," while former Trump advisor Stephen Miller wrote, "So wrong on so many levels."
Harris' appearance without a mask wasn't the first instance in which Democrats have been criticized for pushing masks while choosing not to wear one around others.
Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was sharply criticized in February after also posing for a photo maskless with a group of masked schoolchildren.
She apologized following the incident, but later doubled-down on her support for mask mandates.
Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams posed maskless for a photo with masked school children in February. (Fox News)
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In January, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., was caught maskless at a New York high school while students around him were all masked-up, while California Democrats Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed were all spotted maskless at a January NFL playoff game despite the state having a universal indoor mask mandate at the time.
Last November, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was blasted for attending a wedding without a mask amid a continued mask mandate for children in California schools.
Meanwhile, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D., has flouted her own indoor mask mandate several times.
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