Talk about a “mask off” moment for Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). Today, an anonymous tipster passed along an exclusive photo to The Daily Wire that appeared to be a high-profile member of Congress not wearing a mask aboard a United flight heading from Dulles Airport to Los Angeles International — despite the FAA mask mandate in place requiring all passengers to wear one due to COVID-19 precautions.
Meanwhile, flight attendants hounded other passengers consistently for not wearing their masks, even in-between bites of food. Flight attendants only asked Waters to pull up her mask once the tipster pointed out the hypocrisy.
“Maxine had her mask off for at least an hour while she read her paper and took a nap,” the source told The Daily Wire. “Attendants brought her fresh coffee while she was napping and didn’t say a thing as three of them walked past and saw Maxine reading and then sleeping while she remained maskless.”
But, the source did not receive the same treatment from United Airlines.
“My nose had bled pretty early into the flight, so I later on pulled my mask down below my nose to get some cooler air,” she explained. “Within a few minutes, a flight attendant informed me I had to put my mask back on over my nose, the right way, immediately.”
The source says she pointed in the direction of Waters, indicating that she wasn’t wearing a mask as a form of protest.
The flight attendant looked at Waters and said to the woman, “Okay, but you need to put your mask on the right way.”
“I put the mask on ‘the right way’ after the flight attendant told Maxine to put her mask on,” The Daily Wire’s source added. “Maxine had been napping. She did put the mask on after the attendant interrupted her sleep and told her to do so. I think she was startled by the rude awakening.”
The source, who also suspects Waters had a role in her boyfriend’s seat getting bumped, was able to snap a photo of the congresswoman before she put her mask on:
The Daily Wire
Readers should remember that Waters has been one of the longest and most vocal advocates of masking in public settings.
In April 2020, waters tweeted, “Take a chance. Remind an unmasked person to put on a mask & if they become angry, smile and say ‘6ft away’ & keep going.”
Take a chance. Remind an unmasked person to put on a mask & if they become angry, smile and say “6ft away” & keep going.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 15, 2020
In May 2020, Waters took it a step further and said that not wearing a mask in public was a threat to public safety. She slammed then-President Donald Trump as being a bad role model for being seen in public without the face-covering.
“Trump is a dangerous example for children and those who tend to follow him. Not wearing a mask and not social distancing is dangerous,” she tweeted. “Do not follow his example. Protect yourself. Coronavirus kills! Maybe this ignoramus doesn’t care, but you should care about yourself!”
Trump is a dangerous example for children and those who tend to follow him. Not wearing a mask and not social distancing is dangerous. Do not follow his example. Protect yourself. Coronavirus kills! Maybe this ignoramus doesn’t care, but you should care about yourself!
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) May 25, 2020
She doubled down on that message in June of 2020, tweeting, “Trump still refuses to wear a mask. Trump’s FAILED leadership & his unfortunate followers not wearing masks & not social distancing is responsible for the growing infections, death, & surge in #coronavirus cases.”
Trump still refuses to wear a mask. Trump’s FAILED leadership & his unfortunate followers not wearing masks & not social distancing is responsible for the growing infections, death, & surge in #coronavirus cases.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) June 30, 2020
None of these statements were forgotten by The Daily Wire’s source, who slammed the congresswoman for her “rules-for-thee-but-not-for-me” attitude. The passenger also expressed her dissatisfaction with United’s customer service — or lack thereof.
“The injustice of being overlooked because we were not ‘important’ like Maxine, of being dismissed when my boyfriend tried to address the seat he paid for so that we could sit together, and then being roughly spoken to for having my own mask down a fraction of an inch when someone else, a well-known politician, just six feet away from me, was ‘breaking’ the required face masks on airlines was flabbergasting.”
“Flight attendants stay on you,” the source said. “If you don’t put your mask on in between bites of food or sips of drink, they will ask you to, they state so at the start of their safety guidelines before the flight.”
“But none of them once bothered Maxine when she was maskless,” she remarked. “A politician who believes in masks, but only when others wear them for her. It’s a double standard, but people seem to be blind to it.”
As for her boyfriend not getting to sit in his original seat, the source said they were able to sit near each other, but that Waters was able to sit without anybody next to her at all.
“She was in the window seat and in the middle seat was a sign that said the seat was ‘out of service’ and ‘sorry for the inconvenience.’ There was a young man in the aisle seat of that row who mid-flight agreed to switch seats with my boyfriend so the both of us could at least be across from each other.”
Recently, President Joe Biden extended the federal mask mandates for public transportation — such as airlines — into March of 2022.
The Daily Wire reached out to Waters’ office for comment but has not received one.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Waters bumped a passenger from the window seat. The claim has been removed.
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