Obama, Lightfoot, Bowser: Democrats ignore delta fears, forge ahead with large gatherings

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Current and former Democratic officials who have preached safety during the pandemic, backing mask mandates and lockdowns, have been accused of ignoring their own advice in recent days as the COVID-19 delta variant surges across the nation.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was pictured celebrating her birthday without wearing a mask Friday evening, just hours before her new indoor mask mandate was slated to take effect. The mayor was captured in a group photo standing alongside comedian Dave Chappelle without a face covering.

The following day, after the order had gone into effect, Bowser was spotted again officiating a large outdoor wedding without wearing a mask, which was followed by an indoor dinner.

Bowser’s office released a statement acknowledging the wedding event on July 31, saying: “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. The Friday, July 30th evening event called into question by conservative media was outdoors, on a rooftop.”

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The Washington, D.C., health order requires masking indoors regardless of vaccination status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently cited a study showing breakthrough cases among vaccinated populations but still advises that receiving the vaccine is the best way to prevent serious or fatal COVID-19 infections.

During the annual Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago over the weekend, the city’s Democratic mayor, Lori Lightfoot, delivered a speech praising the high number of vaccinated attendees in the crowd, citing data the event coordinators released on Twitter.

“The rate of vaccination in this crowd is off the charts,” she said, as 90% of attendees showed vaccine proof at the front gates and a further 8% of attendees showed proof of negative COVID-19 tests.

Still, the mayor said on July 27, before the festival weekend, that Chicago may need to return to a mask mandate if the city is consistently seeing more than 200 new virus cases per day.

“If we see a surge, anything like we’ve seen in the past couple cycles, then everything is on the table,” Lightfoot said. “But right now, I feel confident with the measures that are in place. But everything is subject to change based upon the data and the science.”

But as of July 30, Chicago was averaging 192 new COVID-19 cases, according to city health data. Despite nearing the threshold she mentioned on Tuesday, no mask ordinance was made for the festival that draws an average of 100,000 people per day to the three-day event.

Lightfoot was captured in footage posing with the band Black Pumas without wearing a facial covering. The mayor is vaccinated, and no mandate has been reinstated in Chicago. The city’s daily case average was trending above 205 on Monday.

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Former President Barack Obama is slated to hold his 60th birthday party at Martha’s Vineyard this weekend, with more than 450 guests, according to a source with connections to the 44th president’s inner circle, Axios reported.

The party will be held outdoors, and anyone in attendance will have to be tested for COVID-19, another person with knowledge on the matter told the outlet.

Although Martha’s Vineyard is on an island, the nearby region of Provincetown, Massachusetts, struggled with breakthrough infection cases following July 4 celebrations, as nearly 60,000 congregated near Cape Cod in largely maskless groups, according to the New York Times.

Contact tracers found 965 cases connected to those gatherings, and 238 cases involved residents of Provincetown. Still, only seven from the infected group were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.

Provincetown declared a new indoor mask mandate on July 25 to combat surging infections.

Martha’s Vineyard does not qualify as an area of “substantially high” risk, according to the CDC, and therefore does not fall under any mask recommendations and guidance.

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The Washington Examiner contacted Obama’s office but did not immediately receive a response.

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