Nancy Pelosi had a full day to figure out how to (re-)respond to the exposed security footage showing the maskless House speaker sauntering around a San Francisco salon in violation of local laws. The literal best excuse she could come up with was — I kid you not — blaming the salon, claiming that it set her up and owes her an apology. You think I’m embellishing. I am not.
“I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to over the years many times, and when they said, ‘we’re able to accommodate people, one person at a time, and that we can set up that time,’ I trusted that,” the California congresswoman said while at an event about schoolchildren. “It was a setup, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup.”
“I think that this salon owes me an apology for setting me up.”
To be clear, after advocating for months of economically devastating lockdowns and expressly blaming coronavirus cases on President Trump’s push to reopen the nation, Pelosi had the audacity to treat herself to an illegal blowout and not even wear a mask. Oh, and about the whole no-mask thing, perhaps the most absurd unforced error of the fracas.
“I just had my hair washed,” Pelosi said in her defense. “I don’t wear a mask when I’m washing my hair. Do you wear a mask when you’re washing your hair?”
No, Nancy, I do not wear a mask when I’m washing my hair at home in my shower. But when we go to waxing, nail, and hair salons, there is literally no reason to not wear a mask, especially given that salon sinks are specifically designed not to get your hair wet.
Perhaps the most brazen part about her defense was that in the same breath that she was using a political event for children as a bully pulpit to attack a struggling business, she claimed that she’s been “inundated” with gratitude from salon workers and that this is a sign that we need to reopen.
So in whatever brain cells remain of Pelosi’s, 20 million jobs lost in the entire month after the lie of “15 days to slow the spread” were not reasons enough to consider reopening the nation. Mass domestic violence escalations, mental health afflictions, and suicides were not. But when Princess Pelosi wants to get pretty before an MSNBC hit, sure, let’s reevaluate all of this!
It’s a stunningly petty moment even for a stunningly petty person, but that’s Pelosi for you.
