Biden caught violating DC mask mandate at Georgetown restaurant

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Bidens caught violating DC mask mandate at posh Georgetown restaurant
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden were caught violating Washington, D.C.'s indoor mask mandate by walking through a high-end Georgetown restaurant without masks on Saturday.

The maskless Bidens were recorded leaving Fiola Mare while flanked by masked Secret Service agents.

The two dined at the pricey Italian seafood restaurant on the Potomac River after attending a service at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown, according to The Daily Mail.

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Washington, D.C.'s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser reinstated an indoor mask mandate in July amid the surge of the delta variant. The Bidens also violated Fiola Mare's mask policy, which mirrors the city's.

"Per CDC guidance and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s executive order, all individuals over age 2 are required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Masks must be always worn while in our restaurants, except while eating and drinking. Thank you for understanding," the restaurant's website says.

Establishments that fail to enforce Bowser's executive order face potential warnings, fines and the revocation of licenses, though the order also notes: "The enforcement provisions of this Order shall not be applied to persons in the federal government or legislative branch of the District government while those persons are on duty." CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
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Jon Stewart says media making 'mistake' casting Trump as 'incredible supervillain'
Comedian Jon Stewart said the media's hyper-focus on former President Donald Trump is a mistake and that casting him as an "incredible supervillain" distracts from other threats. 

The former "Daily Show" host told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview airing Sunday that political pundits are "making a mistake" blaming Trump for the country's divisive discourse, arguing they should turn their focus to the threat posed by much larger institutions that have dangerously embraced "the idea that power is its own reward."

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"I think we make a mistake focusing this all on Donald Trump as if he's … Magneto and some incredible supervillain that has changed the very nature and temperature of the U.S.," Stewart said. "He's just been an effective vessel, but he's not singing new songs. … I think it's a mistake to focus it all on this one individual and not to focus it more on the idea that power is its own reward whether it be in the financial industry or government. Power doesn't cede itself, and unless we can figure out a better way to balance out that power … we'll be vulnerable."

Stewart, who recently launched a new show, "The Problem with Jon Stewart," said it's time the media moves away from the idea that "autocracy is purely the domain of Donald Trump."

"I think we all have a bit of a tendency to grant amnesty to people that are doing things that we would prefer, even if that means that they're doing things that are slightly undemocratic," he admitted. "So I think our focus unhealthily on this one individual comes at the price of systems and dynamics that have been in place long before this cat ever learned how to surf those waves." CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
- Texas Rep. Michael McCaul: Biden rescinded Remain in Mexico policy 'because it had Trump's name on it'
- ‘SNL’ Weekend Update takes on budget bill, vaccine mandates, COVID origins -- and other political footballs
- Kayleigh McEnany: Breast cancer and me – why I chose to have a preventative double mastectomy
- Bill Clinton released from hospital in Southern California

NBC fact-checks Fauci's fear that college football games would be COVID super-spreaders: 'Never happened'
A report on NBC's "Today" Saturday fact-checked Dr. Anthony Fauci’s fear – made on its cable arm MSNBC – of a dramatic COVID-19 surge from crowded football stadiums, saying it "never happened."

NBC reporter Shaquille Brewster reported packed stadiums for sporting events have not become "super-spreader events" for the coronavirus.

"For weeks, crowds in the tens of thousands, mostly unmasked, have sat side-by-side now cheering on their teams at the halfway point of the season," Brewster reported. "All while doctors warned of games becoming potential super-spreader events. A frightening prospect at the time with hospitals already on the brink."

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Brewster cited Fauci’s theory that packed college games would lead to rising COVID cases during an appearance in September on MSNBC.

"But it never happened," Brewster said, adding, "Cases are now in steep decline in every college football state across the south. Including Florida, where hospitalizations fell 64 percent last month, even as some 90,000 fans packed the [University of Florida] Gators' stadium."

"It definitely gives me less anxiety at that time as I see an increased number of vaccinated people. And a decrease, in the dwindling numbers. For sure," Dr. Hiren Pokharna said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
- Fauci: People 'react against me' when 'truth becomes inconvenient'
- Fauci allegedly misled Trump administration on gain-of-function research in Wuhan: Book
- WaPo columnist mocked for lecturing unmasked stranger in elevator: 'Strong hall monitor energy'
- Cam Newton, eyeing NFL return, gets vaccinated against COVID-19: report
- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker delays COVID vaccine deadline for some state workers

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TODAY'S MUST-READS:
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SOME PARTING WORDS

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Fox News' Trey Gowdy on Sunday urged congressional Republicans to "put their differences and ambitions aside long enough to let history and the American people restore balance" as the country looks ahead to the 2022 midterm elections.

"The good thing about democracy is there is always another election on the horizon," the host said on "Sunday Night in America." "If past is prologue, Election Night 2022 will be a long one for Democrats. History tells us that, polling currently tells us that. The Democrats are facing several headwinds, the pandemic is still here, the economy is sputtering … people are concerned about the border and crime and education."

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