More photos of Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams not wearing a mask in the presence of masked children have surfaced, potentially casting doubt on a spokesperson's claim that the candidate only rarely removed the mask while visiting the school in question.
Abrams received hefty backlash over the weekend after she posted a photo of herself, unmasked, sitting in front of a large crowd of children, all of whom are wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She had visited Glennwood Elementary School outside of Atlanta last week. A spokesperson later suggested that the photo was not representative of Abrams' time at the school visit, but later photos cast doubt on that assertion.
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"Stacey trusts science and supports masking in schools as it's the current CDC recommendation," Lauren Groh-Wargo, a spokeswoman for Abrams, tweeted. "She wore a mask to the event, and removed it at the podium so she could be heard by students watching remotely and for photos, but only with folks who were masked."
Yet photos first released by OutKick the Coverage suggest that Abrams kept her mask off for most of the visit.
"Stacey Abrams wants state government mask mandates for Georgians and their children," Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted over the weekend. "But it looks like they wouldn’t apply when she’s attending a photo op."
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently appeared maskless in a restaurant, less than two weeks after he announced that the Big Apple will continue to require kids to wear masks everywhere on school grounds – with the apparent exception of "mask breaks" – despite a New York judge striking down the state's mask mandate.
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At the federal level as well, prominent leaders like Dr. Anthony Fauci have been found in public without masks. Images of maskless Democratic Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Jamaal Bowman of New York, surfaced recently – prompting criticism online.
The Abrams campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Fox News' Sam Dorman and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.