Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin was blasted online Monday after she posted a picture of herself maskless at a campaign meeting, while other attendees were all masked.
Speaking at an event for her “Snow Boots on the Ground” campaign tour, Slotkin took a maskless selfie with several dozen attendees and posted it to her Twitter account.
Another successful Snow Boots on the Ground event in Owosso! Thank you to everyone who came out despite the frigid temperatures. (My selfie skills also seem to be improving so my team actually let me post this one!) pic.twitter.com/aH3jw3EWaF
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) February 6, 2022
A video posted to Twitter the day before shows Slotkin wearing a surgical mask while taking a selfie with attendees at another campaign stop.
Snow Boots on the Ground stop number 2 is in the books! Thank you to everyone in Bath for welcoming me to Clinton County (and for indulging in my New Years resolution to take more pictures from the campaign trail). pic.twitter.com/kR9y6i3Yzn
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) February 6, 2022
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who was first elected to Congress in 2018, is considered a vulnerable seat in the 2022 midterms, where Republicans are expected to take back control of both Houses of Congress. Slotkin’s seat is listed as a toss-up by Cook Political Report.
Twitter users blasted Slotkin for her hypocrisy on masks, with many drawing comparisons to progressive voting rights activist and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who was photographed maskless last week with a room full of masked students.
“Endangered House Democrat Elissa Slotkin doing her own Stacey Abrams,” The New York Post’s Jonathan Levine tweeted.
Endangered House Democrat Elissa Slotkin doing her own Stacey Abrams 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/FdePpNnYF2
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 7, 2022
“Why are the children forced to wear masks?” editor-in-chief of The Federalist Mollie Hemingway replied under Slotkin’s tweet.
Why are the children forced to wear masks?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 7, 2022
I’m noticing a theme. pic.twitter.com/6PcxSte1Ur
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 7, 2022
“My mask-free face lets you know I’m important!” New York Post and Fox News columnist Karol Markowicz mocked.
My mask-free face lets you know I'm important! https://t.co/ON8woODAjC
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) February 7, 2022
“Democrats’ mask mandate hypocrisy continues,” House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Elise Stefanik wrote.
Democrats' mask mandate hypocrisy continues. https://t.co/dJpkj3hwNl
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 7, 2022
“Make sure the people beneath you wear masks right?” Comedian and SiriusXM host Tim Dillon responded. “Because you’re better than them… keep them in their place.”
Make sure the people beneath you wear masks right? Because you're better than them… keep them in their place.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) February 7, 2022
A number of other responses can be found below:
Just more #RulesForTheeNoneForMe hypocrisy from Michigan's own @ElissaSlotkin!
Not only does she clearly have zero self-awareness of everything that is wrong with this image, but she violated *her own* rule that attendees must wear masks!
When will Democrat hypocrisy end? https://t.co/e2pZnh9Cmi
— Michigan GOP (@MIGOP) February 7, 2022
You would think all the candidates would have gotten the memo by now not to post maskless pics of themselves with a bunch of masked people and kids… you know bc of the elitist hypocrisy it displays. But I guess not. https://t.co/s0zh5aHI4r
— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) February 7, 2022
Good to see you required the peasants be masked https://t.co/R8iE17aZ26
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) February 7, 2022
These are happening hourly at this point. https://t.co/qTJbaVNZX1
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) February 7, 2022
what are your demands https://t.co/eMdVpWaIb1
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) February 7, 2022
Right, it’s the “selfie skills” that are the issue when it comes to posting. 🤷♀️😑
— Rebecca Downs (@RebeccaRoseGold) February 7, 2022
Elissa why aren’t you afraid of COVID?
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 7, 2022
Where's your mask? Oh yeah, that's only for the peasants.
— Jacob Airey (@realJacobAirey) February 7, 2022
Slotkin and Abrams are the latest in a long line of Democratic politicians who have been called out for their hypocrisy on wearing masks. Both Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Gavin Newsom were photographed maskless at the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, in violation of the mask mandates imposed by the city of Los Angeles and the state of California, as the Daily Wire reported.
Pressed on the issue at a news conference the day after the game, Newsom claimed that the photo was the only time he was without a mask during the game. “I was very judicious yesterday, very judicious, and you’ll see the photo that I did take, where Magic was kind enough, generous enough to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand is the mask and I took the photo,” Newsom said. “The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should, [except] when I had a glass of water, or anything, and I encourage everybody else to do so. And that’s it.” However, Twitter users pointed out that Newsom had been spotted maskless on more than one occasion, by a FOX broadcast camera, and by the fan camera inside the stadium.
Garcetti was also lambasted on Twitter after claiming he “held his breath” in the photo with Johnson. “I’ll take personal responsibility, and if it makes you and everyone else happy — or even the photographs with people where literally I’m holding my breath for two seconds — I won’t even do that,” Garcetti told Deadline. “I wore my mask the entire game,” he added. “When people ask for a photograph, I hold my breath and I put it here and people can see that. There is a zero percent chance of infection from that.”