The Republican Governors Association released Monday the first video ads blasting Stacey Abrams for going maskless at a Georgia elementary school, and they probably won’t be the last.
The five-figure digital ad campaign features the now-infamous photo of the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful sitting mask-free in a room full of masked children while the narrator says, “One picture is worth 1,000 words.”
“Liberal politicians like Stacey Abrams want to force children to wear masks in school. It’s so ridiculous even they won’t live by those rules,” the 23-second spot says.
“It’s time to end the hypocrisy. Our children deserve someone who cares about their future. Stacey Abrams only cares about her own future,” the narrator concludes.
Ms. Abrams suffered a self-inflicted political wound by posing maskless Friday with the masked students and the masked principal during a Black History Month appearance at Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur.
The photos were tweeted by the principal and then retweeted by the Abrams campaign, which has since deleted the post.
🚨NEW DIGITAL AD 🚨
— The RGA (@GOPGovs) February 7, 2022
Queen of the Woke Mob @staceyabrams forgot to read the room as she was quite literally reading to the room.
Her maskless photo surrounded by masked children is the latest example of the left’s hypocrisy.
Georgia parents will not forget this. pic.twitter.com/QdsHDBZQE1
Abrams spokesperson Lauren Groh-Wargo blamed Republicans for the “false political attack,” saying that the candidate was masked when not posing for photos or speaking at the podium.
“Stacey trusts science and supports masking in schools as it’s the current CDC recommendation,” Ms. Groh-Wargo tweeted. “She wore a mask to the event, and removed it at the podium so she could be heard by students watching remotely and for photos, but only with folks who were masked.”
RGA spokesperson Maddie Anderson predicted that the photos would come back to haunt Ms. Abrams with the voters, saying “Georgia parents will not forget Abrams’ now-deleted tweet.”
“Queen of the Woke Mob Stacey Abrams forgot to read the room as she was quite literally reading to the room,” said Ms. Anderson in a statement. “Her maskless photo surrounded by masked children is the perfect encapsulation of Democrat hypocrisy on COVID policy in schools: Kids suffer while adults favor arbitrary rules that they don’t even follow themselves.”
Ms. Abrams is the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination after losing the 2018 governor’s race.
On the Republican side, Gov. Brian Kemp leads in the polls in his quest for a second term, followed by former Sen. David Perdue and former state Rep. Vernon Jones.
The city of Decatur’s pandemic restrictions require residents to wear facial coverings in public indoor settings.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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