In what can only be described as another case of “do as I say, not as I do,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) was caught maskless while celebrating her birthday with invited guests despite her previous condemnations of anti-maskers.
The video, posted by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Instagram Monday evening, showed Jayapal not only celebrating without a mask but also blowing out her birthday candles – a hazard that health experts have warned could potentially spread coronavirus.
The viral video comes after Jayapal tested positive for coronavirus in January of this year, which she blamed on Republicans not wearing masks.
“I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one,” she tweeted at the time.
“Only hours after Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic—creating a superspreader event ON TOP of a domestic terrorist attack,” she added.
Only hours after Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic—creating a superspreader event ON TOP of a domestic terrorist attack.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 12, 2021
Jayapal further asserted that any member of the U.S. House who refuses to wear a mask should be “fully held accountable” for endangering lives.
“Any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy. I’m calling for every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol to be fined and removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms,” she tweeted.
While I am isolating per the Capitol Physician’s instructions, I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 12, 2021
Jayapal’s mask faux-pas comes shortly after San Francisco Mayor London Breed was caught dancing the night away at a nightclub while maskless. In response to the backlash, Breed touted the vaccination status of those in her company, which still violated her city’s policy.
“From my perspective, I was there, I was eating and I was drinking, and I was sitting with my friends and everyone who came in there was vaccinated,” Breed said. “So the fact that we have turned this into a story about being maskless, No: I’m not going to sip and put my mask on, sip and put my mask on, sip and put a mask on, eat and put my mask on.”
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