Controversial Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot hit the headlines again after breaking her city's own mask rules to pose for a photo bare-f...
Controversial Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot hit the headlines again after breaking her city's own mask rules to pose for a photo bare-faced at a basketball game.
Lightfoot shared the snap of herself smiling, while surrounded by scores of fans - all of them masked - after the game at Chicago's Wintrust Arena Sunday night.
'What a moment. Congrats champs! A first but not the last for Chicago Sky' she tweeted while holding her arms in the air in celebration at Chicago's first WNBA title with a 80-74 win over Phoenix,' she wrote.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was pictured at a Chicago basketball game without a face mask
The Chicago mayor was celebrating the Chicago Sky win over Phoenix Mercury in their first WNBA championship but appeared to be completely unmasked at the time
But Lightfoot shared the snap despite Illinois' statewide mask mandate requiring all sporting fans over the age of two to wear masks at the Wintrust Arena, regardless of their vaccination status.
Lightfoot's lack of a mask quickly caught the attention of followers on Twitter who were less than impressed.
'That’s cute, but Illinois has an indoor mask mandate, irregardless of vaccine status, ma’m. Where is YOUR mask?' asked Kate.
'I thought there is an indoor mask mandate in place? I guess not for everyone eh?' tweeted Mike.
'So much for that indoor mask mandate eh,' added Ken.
Lightfoot was roundly criticized on social media having been caught without a face covering which is currently mandated by the state of Illinois
A few people online quickly came to the mayor's defense.
'I was sitting across from the mayor, she had her mask on the entire game - she pushed it down because the woman in the yellow hat was taking a photo,' wrote television producer Afua Owusu.
But even that did not satisfy social media users.
'In this picture, she has NO mask on. It’s not pushed down, it’s nonexistent.' tweeted Dave Pollock.
'Ahhh Covid doesn’t spread for photo ops. I’ll remember that for my next photo. thanks!', wrote Kaleb sarcastically.
Candace Parker #3 of the Chicago Sky celebrates with her teammates after winning Game Four of the 2021 WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday at the Wintrust Arena
One person defended her saying she had only temporarily removed her mask to have a photograph taken
Social media users did not buy the argument that the mayor had simply 'pushed her mask down'
Another Twitter user said it appeared the mayor had been the victim of a 'hit job' by someone in her team for posting such a photograph
One person believed the posting of Lightfoot unmasked was a 'hit job' of sorts.
'Assuming you don’t post on your own acct, but this is clearly a hit job by whoever does by putting her in a crowd in a pic with no mask, I’m sure they had plenty of pics with masks and of the actual team, this is so stupid it seems intentional.'
Masks are currently required in Illinois, including Chicago in all indoor public settings such as bars, restaurants, grocery stores and gyms, regardless of whether you're vaccinated or not.
Masks must also be worn on public transport, in healthcare settings and in schools.
There have been more than 1.6 million cases of the coronavirus across the state of Illinois since the pandemic began in March 2020 resulting in 25,407 deaths.
In the city of Chicago there are roughly 320 cases of the coronavirus diagnosed each day, which is about a 2% positivity rate.
21 people a day, on average, in the Windy City are hospitalized with the virus with resulting in around three deaths a day from the disease across the city.
There have been more than 1.6 million cases of the coronavirus across the state of Illinois since the pandemic began in March 2020 resulting in 25,407 deaths. In the city of Chicago there are roughly 320 cases of the coronavirus diagnosed each day, which is about a 2% positivity rate
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