DC officials: We hope to drop mask mandate, be back to normal by ... the holidays



The citizens of Washington, D.C., could be excused if they are not feeling too awfully optimistic about their city's COVID-19 mask-mandates situation.

The district is not one of the nations's COVID hot spots with just 18 cases per 100,000, according to the New York Times, (though the number of cases in the city is up — as it is in every U.S. state and territory), fewer hospitalizations than most states, and an extremely low death rate with only three COVID deaths in the last two weeks.

Yet, Mayor Muriel Bowser is insistent upon forcing the vaccinated people in her city to wear masks indoors. However, the mayor herself revealed recently that she is unwilling to abide by her own masking rules, leading many to believe she doesn't truly believe masks are effective at fighting the virus.

The problem, according to WRC-TV, is that though the number of people getting tested for COVID has doubled, the number of people getting the shots remains flat at about 1,000 people per day. The outlet did not bother to point out that D.C. has one of the nation's higher vaccination rates, with 65% of the population having received at least one dose. And 56% of the district's resident are fully vaccinated, including 63% of all adults and 77% of those 65 years old and older.

The number of people getting tested for #coronavirus in DC has doubled in past week. As daily cases of #COVID19 con… https://t.co/1RjMwg3mxK

— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) 1628531056.0

So, will the district be able to get rid of its mask mandates any time soon?

According to the city's health department, it could be a while — a long while.

Patrick Ashley, a senior deputy director of the D.C. health department, told WRC that the mask mandate could go through Thanksgiving and that he and his office are hoping that things could resemble normalcy by, say, the Christmas season.

But that will work only if the district's subjects get their act together and get vaccinated, he said.

"It's likely that we'll see this at least for a few more weeks," Ashley said. "We're very hopeful that we'll get back to normal around the holidays.

“We're hopeful that by Thanksgiving we'll be in a different spot, but that relies on people getting vaccinated," he continued.

New video reveals DC mayor lied about complying with the mask mandate when caught unmasked at indoor reception: 'She's a moron, or she's a liar'



Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., was caught maskless at an indoor wedding reception Saturday night — a clear violation of her newly imposed mandate requiring all vaccinated people in the district to wear masks indoors.

In response, the mayor's office claimed they mayor was actually in full compliance with the mandate. In order to cover for Bowser, two CNN hosts even came up with excuses that the mayor's office did not offer, including that the photo must have been taken when she was either eating or drinking.

However, video footage from the reception clearly shows the mayor was not eating or drinking when she was maskless but was, instead, enjoying the revelry that had been denied to so many Americans over the last 18 months.

What happened?

Bowser officiated an outdoor wedding Saturday in the Adams Morgan area of D.C., which was followed by an indoor reception.

Washington Examiner reporter Tiana Lowe first reported the mayor's mask violation over the weekend when she posted a photo of a maskless Bowser from the indoor event — which also featured hundreds of unmasked guests.

When encountered by the Washington Examiner, Mayor Bowser confirmed that she officiated the maskless, indoor weddin… https://t.co/w4LFXrbAew

— Tiana Lowe (@TianaTheFirst) 1627810740.0

When Lowe attempted to ask Bowser why she was maskless, security reportedly prevented her from approaching the mayor.

In response to Lowe's reporting, the mayor's office issued a statement claiming that Bowser actually did wear a mask indoors and was in full "compliance with the mandate."

But Lowe recorded video of the mayor violating the mandate and shared it Monday in a piece titled "DC Mayor Bowser lied and we have the video to prove it."

In an interview with The First's Buck Sexton, Lowe explained that Bowser was "very, very visible" and added that she was shocked that no one — including a CNN reporter who was in attendance — had already put something out on social media about the "obvious Marie Antoinette-style moment."

According to Lowe, the mayor was "sitting there for 10 minutes that I was observing not wearing a mask."

BUSTED! D.C. mayor caught violating her own mask mandate www.youtube.com

When Sexton asked if Bowser was lying, Lowe did not hold back.

Citing the video, the reporter said, "It's clear that she planned to officiate this wedding and attend, and then also put in the mask mandate for Saturday morning at 5 a.m." — meaning , Lowe pointed out, that "she knew that by Saturday evening by 9 p.m. that she was going to violate her own order."

"Which either means she's a moron, or she's a liar who knows that these indoor mask mandated don't matter," Lowe said.

"She would not be sitting there without the mask if she thought it actually protected her from COVID," she added.

News outlet ridiculed for failed attempt to undermine damaging report on DC mayor's hypocrisy



A Washington, D.C., based news outlet was widely mocked and ridiculed online for their attempt to undermine a damaging report documenting social distancing hypocrisy by the city's mayor.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, was caught breaking her own indoor masking mandate at a wedding Saturday at a four-star hotel with hundreds of guests. Photographs of her hypocrisy were first published by the Washington Examiner.

On Monday, the Washingtonian reported that the journalist who first broke the story had not been invited to the wedding, implying that it was improper for her to report what happened without being invited to the event.

UPDATE: The Washington Examiner writer who published photos of Mayor Bowser maskless at a wedding over the weekend… https://t.co/aL0tdUCQnj

— Washingtonian (@washingtonian) 1627926420.0

"UPDATE: The Washington Examiner writer who published photos of Mayor Bowser maskless at a wedding over the weekend was not invited to the wedding," read the tweet from the Washingtonian.

The reporter, Tiana Lowe of the Washington Examiner, responded in mocking fashion.

"LMAO I already said I wasn't invited this morning," tweeted Lowe.

"When a reporter gets information indicating that an elected official is violating her own law, she has a professional duty to...report the news," she added. "A novel concept these days, I know."

Others on Twitter piled on against the Washingtonian.

"Reporters apparently now can only expose the hypocrisy of politicians if they are *invited* to the relative event," responded Rich Lowry, National Review editor.

"Counterpoint: Who gives a sh*t? W the actual F is this garbage, if not humiliating, boot-licking damage control for a hack busted red-handed for outrageous hypocrisy? Journalism!" replied Guy Benson.

"Hats off to the Washingtonian for taking a bold and overdue stance against journalism," said Tom Elliott.

"A solid burn! Obviously an important rule of journalism is that you must always be invited by the authorities before reporting," joked one Twitter user.

Bowser's office claimed in a statement that the mayor had held to the social distancing guidelines, despite the photo evidence.

"On Saturday, July 31st, Mayor Bowser officiated an outdoor, rooftop wedding ceremony, followed by an indoor dinner," the statement to WTTG-TV said. "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."

Here's more about the latest COVID hypocrisy scandal:

DC Mayor Bowser officiates large wedding after new indoor mask mandate | LiveNOW from FOXwww.youtube.com