Virginia’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was caught maskless earlier this summer on an Amtrak train headed from New York to Washington, D.C., in clear violation of federal regulations and Amtrak rules.
According to photos obtained by Fox News, one of the images shows McAuliffe “walking down the aisle of an Amtrak train, on a phone call, and not wearing a face covering,” while “standing under Amtrak’s sign stating face masks are required.” A second photo shows the former Virginia governor and now-candidate maskless while on a phone call in New York City’s Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station.
EXCLUSIVE – Virginia's former Democratic Gov. @TerryMcAuliffe, who is running to win back his seat, was seen mask-less on an #Amtrak train from New York to Washington, D.C., in late July – skirting federal #COVID #mask mandates and #Amtrak ruleshttps://t.co/ZBNNsqq9R3
— Brooke Singman (@BrookeSingman) September 14, 2021
The move by McAuliffe is in violation of Amtrak’s coronavirus policy, which says that “refusing to wear a mask is a violation of federal law” and that “passengers may be subject to penalties under federal law, denied boarding, removed from the train and banned from future travel in the event of noncompliance.”
Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a regulation in January that mandates mask-wearing on all forms of public transportation, including “airports, bus or ferry terminals, train and subway stations,” and others.
The incident demonstrates not only hypocrisy but also elitist hierarchy on the part of McAuliffe, who has repeatedly called for everyday Americans to mask up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are moving in the right direction under @POTUS’s leadership,” he wrote in an April tweet. “Keep wearing a mask. Keep social distancing. Get the vaccine as soon as you’re able. Better days to come.”
https://twitter.com/TerryMcAuliffe/status/1384519214313050116?s=20
Under the leadership of @GovernorVA and @POTUS, Virginia has made great progress fighting COVID-19. But we can’t let our foot off the gas now.
Let’s get vaccinated, socially distance, and wear masks so we can start getting back to normal soon! https://t.co/7hciTSXFXQ
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) May 6, 2021
Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin blasted McAuliffe, with campaign spokesman Christian Martinez telling The Federalist that the former Virginia governor is “just like all other career politicians in Washington” who “thinks the rules are for everyone else.”
“McAuliffe said he wants to make life difficult for everyone else, but apparently he has difficulty taking the pandemic seriously enough to follow federal law,” he said. “McAuliffe loves to play politics with COVID, but he failed his own leadership test, demonstrating once again that he is all talk and no action.”
The McAuliffe campaign did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.
