Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti was widely criticized on Twitter for his response to a question stemming from a picture that showed him posing without a mask with NBA legend Magic Johnson and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
The three attended the NFC Championship game at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium Sunday to watch. Johnson posted the photo on Twitter along with another picture with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who also appeared maskless.
During a press conference for the upcoming Super Bowl in the city, Garcetti was asked by reporters about the photo, according to Deadline.
“I’ll take personal responsibility,” he said, before telling reporters that “if it makes you and everyone else happy—or even the photographs with people where literally I’m holding my breath for two seconds—I won’t even do that.”
SoFi Stadium, located in Inglewood, has a strict mask policy requiring all fans to wear masks unless they are eating or drinking.
A Twitter user posted, “Eric Garcetti hopes you’re dumb enough to believe that he held his breath every single time he took his mask off at the Rams game.”
“That’s the trouble with the Democrats, Johnny Carson, the comedian, later joked. Even when they do something wrong, they don’t do it right.”
