Stacey Abrams is pushing back on a chorus of Republicans who criticized her for a recent photo she posted, then removed, on social media.
The photo showed the Georgia Democratic candidate for governor without a mask on while surrounded by school children wearing face coverings.
The image was first posted to Twitter on Friday by the principal of Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia, where Abrams participated in a reading activity as part of Black History Month.
Abrams, a voting rights activist and political organizer who is running again Gov. Brian Kemp, retweeted the image from a campaign account.
“Stacey Abrams wants state government mask mandates for Georgians and their children. But it looks like they wouldn’t apply when she’s attending a photo op,” Kemp said on Twitter, referring to the photo that was later removed.
Pandemic restrictions and guidelines — particularly the guidance around wearing face masks — have become increasingly politicized.
David Perdue, a former U.S. senator from Georgia who is now challenging Gov. Kemp in the state’s Republican primary, also weighed in.
“We all know Stacey Abrams’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. Liberals’ thirst for power during this pandemic has caused enormous damage to our kids, while the elite like Stacey continue living their lives,” Perdue wrote on Twitter. “What is even worse is that this is a classroom in Brian Kemp’s GA, not NY or CA.”
The Abrams campaign hit back against her rivals, criticizing them for waging a “false political attack.”
“It is shameful that our opponents are using a Black History Month reading event for Georgia children as the impetus for a false political attack, and it is pitiful and predictable that our opponents continue to look for opportunities to distract from their failed records when it comes to protecting public health during a pandemic,” Abrams said in a statement on her Instagram account. “This pathetic, transparent and silly attack is beneath anyone who claims he wants to lead Georgia.”
Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017.
A voting rights activist, her efforts have been widely credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia, including in the 2020 presidential election, where Joe Biden narrowly won the state, and in Georgia’s 2020 -2021 Senate election and special election, which gave Democrats control over the Senate.