After a photo of a maskless Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams surfaced on social media, Twitter went berserk with outrage. There, there, angry parents. Stacy Abrams has apologized.

According to this, Abrams has apologized for the insensitive portrayal of her maskless mug, smiling ear-to-ear whilst surrounded by masked elementary school students.

I approached the podium with my mask on, I followed the protocols. I told the kids I’m taking my mask off because I’m reading to kids who are listening remotely as well, and we were socially distanced – the kids were socially distanced from me. And then the excitement after I finished because it was so much fun working with those kids, I took a picture and that was a mistake. Protocols matter and protecting our kids is the most important thing and anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake and I apologize.”-Stacey Abrams

Our job is to protect the children, she says and follow the science. Stacey Abrams was just so happy and so excited to be around these kids that she forgot the science for a few moments. She was just enthralled in the sheer joy of a moment snapping a photo with these sweet kids that she inadvertently forgot her mask.

Not once did it every dawn on Ms. Abrams that smiling from ear-to-ear in front of a bunch of little children at a school was just not the look she should have been going for. Of course, the GOP pounced on it. I mean, why wouldn’t they?

Stacey Abrams claims to care so much about health because, after all, she lives with her immunocompromised parents. Earth to Stacy…if you live with immunocompromised people and COVID is so, so, so, very deadly, whatever are you doing taking you mask off for even a minute in front of those young, filthy disease vectors plaguing our schools? GASP! Teachers are not paid enough to deal with this risk every single day. Masks MUST be worn. At all times. Except if you’re Stacey Abrams. If you’re the wannabe governor, you must take off your mask to read to said young disease vectors because they are learning to read, and it is important that they see her full expression. Especially when she tells the booger-eating nuggets to tell their parents to not forget to vote. Wouldn’t want that little bit of information getting muffled under a mask, now would we?

🙄 Read the room. We aren’t asking you to mask harder, we’re asking you to end the hypocrisy and #UNMASKOURCHILDREN

— astan (@astannard6) February 9, 2022

Well, she did have her back turned towards most of the snotty-nosed sweeties, so that has to count for some sort of protection, right? Or perhaps she followed Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti’s lead and held her breath? Science is so important. And we just “can’t make this about politics and scoring political points”, according to Abrams. Except it is.

Incredible her response to this scandal is not to say kids should be unmasked, but to instead say they should continue to be masked. https://t.co/N32vYH3h21

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 9, 2022

Protocols matter. Unless you’re at an NFL championship game. Or at The Oscars. Or at The Met Gala. Or sipping cocktails in South Beach. Or at a hair salon. Or at The Emmys. Or at a bar with your colleagues. Or on a vacation (but you wore a mask on the plane so you should be fine). But schools, yes schools. Mandates totally make sense here.

And so do all of the “rules” surrounding them, right? Just this past weekend, my son wrestled in a tournament. They were told that masks at the tournament were not required when wrestling their opponent but told they had to wear masks while wrestling their practice partner. I thought for a second that my son may not have heard the correct guidance but then remembered that none of this needs to make sense anymore. In Washington State, he still attends school in a mask. The very same grown adults at board meetings, the ones that “follow the science” applaud the school counselors for their caring and compassion during this tragic time and praise the ridiculous these COVID protocols and masking measures in one breath, call their opposition, “selfish, uneducated and ignorant” in the next. How dare the parents who oppose their views disagree with their “science” and spout out “pseudo science”. Their pretentious, sanctimonious tone drones on, as they are seemingly unaware of how they have applauded counselors who stand on the front lines dealing with school bullying daily while they, in turn, bully their peers for the sake of our children. This is our warped reality.

But all is good in the world. Stacey Abrams has apologized, all. This “apology” does not do anything but rub more salt into the wounds of fatigued parents of students who have been verbally abused and harassed to mask up and comply at all times. This apology does not remedy children whose verbal skills and reading scores are well-behind their peers in other nations that have chosen to forego masking in schools. Unlike Eric Garcetti, I won’t hold my breath.

Stacey Abrams’ apology is merely a “sorry, I got caught”. Who should she really be apologizing to? Those parents for putting those kids through the hell on earth they have experienced over almost the past two years thanks to her political party.

Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey/FlickR/CC BY 2.0