House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office is responding to criticism she faced following her visit to a San Francisco-area hair salon. Indoor hair salon services are still banned in the city amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for Pelosi’s office, released a statement on Tuesday addressing the situation. According to the spokesperson, Pelosi and the business adhered to local COVID mitigation requirements.
“The Speaker always wears a mask and complies with local COVID requirements,” Pelosi’s office said.
The statement continued, “This business offered for the Speaker to come in on Monday and told her they were allowed by the city to have one customer at a time in the business. The Speaker complied with the rules as presented to her by this establishment.”
Pelosi’s office’s response came amid critical remarks posted on the Senate Republicans’ Twitter page. Their post included the link to a Fox News clip that features footage of Pelosi at the hair salon on Monday afternoon.
On the left: Nancy Pelosi today shaming Americans, saying "you must wear your mask."
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 1, 2020
On the right: Nancy Pelosi yesterday violating covid rules for salons and not wearing a mask. https://t.co/vUfa9fsCsT pic.twitter.com/aUveM3Fn9m
Senate Republican lawmakers highlighted the point in the video where Pelosi was seen with her mask around her neck.
They accused her of pushing “policies that would keep our economy closed and our small businesses shut down” as they raised questions about whether or not that applies to her personal interests.
Speaker Pelosi has pushed policies that would keep our economy closed and our small businesses shut down.
— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) September 1, 2020
But for herself?
A salon visit whenever she pleases.
A “slap in the face” indeed.
The San Francisco mayor’s office said in a recent statement that hair salons could only resume outdoor operations starting September 1. The statement reads:
“Outdoor personal services that can operate include haircuts, barber services, massages and nail services. Only those services where both clients and providers can be masked at all times are allowed to resume.”
The business owner shared her reaction to Pelosi’s salon visit during a Fox News interview. Salon owner Erica Kious told Fox News that independent stylists who work for her rent salon chairs.
“I was like, are you kidding me right now? Do I let this happen? What do I do?” the salon’s owner said, adding, “It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work.”
The San Francisco mayor’s office guidelines insist “any service that requires your customer to remove their face covering are not permitted at this time,” according to The Hill.
As of Wednesday morning, there are more than 716,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 13,000 COVID-related deaths in the state of California.