Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler — a Leftist who has allowed left-wing violence to fester in his city – is the latest Democrat caught ignoring COVID-19 restrictions they insist others follow.
In a story from The New York Times actually discussing that Oregon — a Democrat-controlled state — is “facing its worst virus surge,” the outlet included a photo of Wheeler and some others meeting inside a hotel without wearing face masks.
This story also includes an image we obtained of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler at a gathering inside a hotel last week.
His office says they were in compliance with the mask mandate because they were “actively eating and/or drinking.”
Story w/ @MrOlmos https://t.co/sEA85aTsQa pic.twitter.com/UyyvezrEwq
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) August 27, 2021
His office had a ready-to-go excuse for the Times, however, claiming the mayor and those around him were “actively eating and/or drinking,” which allows people to remove their masks indoors, per state rules. The picture does not help Wheeler’s case, showing glasses and bottles of water in the vicinity of the meeting but only one person actually “actively” drinking. Wheeler doesn’t appear to even have a glass near him.
Just two weeks ago Wheeler was insisting on the need for indoor masks, posting a tweet asking Oregon resident to join him “in making a commitment to protect those around us by wearing a mask at all times while indoors.”
The mayor was sharing a tweet from Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR), which also insisted everyone wear a mask.
“Masks are a simple and effective way to protect your friends, family, and those around you from COVID-19. They are a way we can help each other, especially the nurses and doctors working 24/7 to save lives,” Brown wrote.
According to the Times, Brown’s newest restrictions go “beyond what any other state has done in battling the summer surge, requiring that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks when gathering closely in public, even when outdoors.”
“The virus is rampaging through rural communities where vaccination rates remain low. Hospitals across the state are near capacity, almost 50 percent beyond the state’s previous peak in December. Last week, a coronavirus patient in Roseburg died while waiting for an I.C.U. bed,” the Times reported, without giving specific numbers like it does when reporting about Florida, which has a Republican governor. The Times did note that Oregon is averaging 968 hospitalizations a day.
Wheeler is the latest Democrat to insist residents follow restrictions they themselves ignore. Earlier this month, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser came under fire for photos showing her maskless indoors at a wedding on the day new mask restrictions went into place. Like Wheeler, Bowser claimed she was actively eating or drinking in the offending photo, though that does not appear to be the case.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was also blasted in November 2020 when it was discovered he attended a fancy dinner party at an expensive restaurant where guests mingled indoors without masks.
In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney — all Democrats — also violated COVID-19 restrictions. From The Daily Wire:
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also featured prominently in the 2020 annals of coronavirus duplicity. Shortly before Thanksgiving, Lightfoot imposed a 10-person cap on gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and other events, according to the Chicago Tribune. She even went so far as to urge families to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans.”
Lightfoot also faced accusations of wanton hypocrisy when she got her hair done in April, during a time when Chicagoans were forbidden even from outdoor exercise. “I am the public face of this city,” Lightfoot said when a reporter confronted her about it. “I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye. I take my personal hygiene very seriously. As I said, I felt like I needed to have a haircut. I’m not able to do that myself, so I got a haircut. You want to talk more about that?”
Lightfoot also celebrated in the streets amid the apparent victory of Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November.
When MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle questioned her about breaking her own rules, Lightfoot said, “Well, look, I think that we’ve been saying all along everybody has to take care, everybody has to take precaution. I will tell you, in that big crowd a week ago, we had, everybody was wearing masks. Look at, you can see the shot here – mask compliance in our city is actually up very, very high. But yes, there are times when we actually do need to have a relief and come together, and I felt like that was one of those times.”