House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded an apology from her “neighborhood salon” on Wednesday after claiming she was “set up” during a visit to get her hair done despite COVID-19 lockdown mandates ordering salons closed.
“I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to…many times…It was a setup, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup,” Pelosi said.
“I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up,” she added.
Pelosi addresses Monday's salon incident:
“I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to…many times…It was a set up, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup.”
“I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up”— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) September 2, 2020
A video released on Tuesday by Fox News shows Pelosi wandering back to her salon chair with wet hair without a mask. Despite San Francisco regulations that ban salons from reopening until Sept. 1, and even then only for outdoor appointments, Pelosi booked an indoor appointment.
Despite her claims on Wednesday that this was an intentional effort to embarrass her, Pelosi’s team argued earlier on Tuesday that the salon incident was instead a misunderstanding.
“The speaker always wears a mask and complies with local COVID requirements,” Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill said in a clearly false statement.
According to the Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, Pelosi claims multiple people have thanked her for her bravery and urgency about the importance of reopening, which was clearly the reason she was getting her hair done in contravention of COVID shutdown orders.
“Thank you for calling attention to this, we need to get back to work. … Many of them annoyed at the setup, that was there, for a purpose that has nothing to do with ending the crisis,” Pelosi said.
Even though she feels this whole “misunderstanding” that caught her on camera violating the rules is the salon’s fault, Pelosi still attempted to defend herself.
“I just had my hair washed. I don’t wear a mask when I’m washing my hair. Do you wear a mask when you’re washing your hair? I always wear a mask … And that picture is when I just came out of the bowl,” she sputtered.
President Trump criticized Pelosi’s hypocrisy, claiming that Republicans “will almost certainly take back the House, and send Nancy packing!”
Crazy Nancy Pelosi is being decimated for having a beauty parlor opened, when all others are closed, and for not wearing a Mask – despite constantly lecturing everyone else. We will almost certainly take back the House, and send Nancy packing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 2, 2020
Some of the mainstream media outlets who continue to push stringent COVID-19 lockdown rhetoric ignored the incident or wrote it off as an accident.
MSNBC hasn’t covered the Pelosi salon story a single time in the 24 hours since it broke.
CNN has covered it a few times. Here’s a good example of how it went. It was a “misunderstanding” (although now she’s saying it’s a set up!), and pivoting to how Trump breaks COVID rules. pic.twitter.com/JzraVye2AA
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) September 2, 2020