Stacey Abrams Says Georgia Should Not Lift School Mask Mandates Yet – After Maskless Pic Controversy

Several Democrat-led states are announcing timelines for when they will lift statewide mask mandates for schools, but Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams believes her state should not follow suit just yet.

During an appearance on CNN on Tuesday night, Abrams was asked by host Erin Burnett, “Do you think it’s time to lift these mask requirements in schools? Would you lift them if you were governor of Georgia?”

Abrams began her response by saying that “Covid hygiene” is “going to be a point of debate for a very long time.”

“And we can only follow the science and follow our circumstances. Unfortunately, in Georgia, we’re not in a place where the conversation is ready because we have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country,” she added.

Finally, Abrams said, “I believe that our job is to protect children. And I know that educators and parents have to balance protection and education.”

Watch the video below:

But her words about the low vaccination rate in the state ring rather hollow as they come just days after a picture surfaced of Abrams smiling, maskless, sitting next to a whole bunch of masked children.

More pictures later surfaced that showed her posing for a picture with other adults who were wearing masks while she was not. While another showed her holding a microphone, maskless, standing several feet away from a masked child who appeared to be speaking into a microphone.

Abrams’ campaign initially blasted her critics, but during the same appearance on CNN, she apologized.

While Abrams argues Georgia should not lift school mask mandates yet, The New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted in his newsletter earlier this week that “benefits of universal masking in schools remain unclear.” And the methodology of one study that found that mask-wearing in schools has a noticeable impact on the spread of COVID-19 has been called into question.

Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist and former health adviser to President Joe Biden, told the Times that universal mask mandates for children “don’t work.”

Meanwhile, NPR points out masks “can interfere with young children’s brain development,” “make it harder to hear and understand speech,” and “inhibit social interactions.”

Additionally, CNN’s medical analyst Leana Wen argued that based on the data and declining number of new coronavirus cases, “The responsibility should shift from a government mandate imposed from the state or the local district on the school…to an individual responsibility by the family who can still decide if that their child can wear a mask.”

Just as Abrams was maskless while she was around others, students should not be forced to wear masks when there is not a clear health benefit and are clear negative effects associated with universal masking. And even if mask mandates are lifted, that does not mean that parents cannot have their children wear masks to school if they so choose.