Stacey Abrams.Photo: Credit: Katrina Hajagos
The Georgia Democrat, who isrunning for governorthis year, initially slammed her Republican opponents, incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue, for waging what her campaign called a “false political attack” over the photo.
OutFronthost Erin Burnettasked Abrams on Tuesdayif posting the photo — which was taken at a Black History reading event at an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia — was a mistake.
Abrams, 48, said that it was.
“I approached the podium with my mask on. I followed the protocols. I told the kids I’m taking my mask off because I’m reading to kids who are listening remotely as well and we were socially distanced,” she said during her CNN appearance.
“In the excitement after I finished — because it was so much fun working with those kids — I took a picture, and that was a mistake,” she continued. “Protocols matter, and protecting our kids is the most important thing, and anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake. And I apologize.”
Kemp attacked Abrams for supporting mask mandates while implying that rules didn’t apply to her during the photo op. Similarly, Perdue said Abrams' “hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Abrams told Burnett on Tuesday that her state is not ready to get rid of mask mandates like someother states have doneasCOVID-19cases declined.
“We have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country,” she said, adding that many families in Georgia also don’t have access to health care. “I believe that our job is to protect children. I know that educators and parents have to balance protection and education and that is a complicate issue.”
Abrams said her job as governor, if elected, would be to follow science and protocols and to “set the right example,” which she said is to “wear masks whenever possible.”
“But,” she continued, “we recognize we can’t be a hard line about this because situations change and we have different moments where we have to make decisions.”
Abrams acknowledged that the issue of mask mandates is complicated and controversial.
“We cannot make this about politics or scoring political points. This has to be about how do we protect our families,” she said. “As we shift from pandemic to endemic, we’ve got to be able to have these conversations in a civil and thoughtful manner.”
source: people.com
