House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called her appointment at a local salon a “setup” after critics accused her of violating a San Francisco ordinance to get her hair done.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday, the California Democrat fired back at those accusing her of hypocritically shaming others for not wearing medical masks after video showed her walking through a salon without a mask.
“I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I’ve been to over the years many times, and that when they said what we’re able to accommodate people, one person at a time, and that we can set up that time, I trusted that,” Pelosi said. “So I take responsibility for falling for a setup. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.”
“I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up,” she continued.
“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,” President Trump tweeted following Pelosi’s visit. “We will almost certainly take back the House, and send Nancy packing!”
Security footage showed Pelosi visiting eSalon in San Francisco, according to a Tuesday report from Fox News. Erica Kious, the salon’s owner, said the top Democratic lawmaker’s visit was a “slap in the face” to business owners that operate indoors, which is prohibited in the city by ordinance.
“We’re supposed to look up this woman, right?” Kious said. “It is just disturbing.”
The San Francisco Department of Public Health issued a series of directives to enforce social distancing, which includes limiting local business practices.
“Indoor Personal Care Services are not allowed, but Directive 2020-23 allows Outdoor Personal Services and was released on September 1,” the department wrote describing the order. “Indoor preliminary guidance was released on July 1, 2020 to help businesses prepare.”
Pelosi received a wash and blow-dry for her hair, but Kious said salons are “not supposed to blow dry hair,” according to coronavirus restrictions. Kious said she felt compelled to share the security footage “because of what everyone in my industry, and my city, what every small business is going through right now.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said the California Democratic “always wears a mask and complies with local COVID requirements.”
“This business offered for the Speaker to come in on Monday and told her they were allowed by the city to have one customer at a time in the business. The Speaker complied with the rules as presented to her by this establishment,” he continued.
