Oregon Governor Spotted Maskless At D.C. Gala, Despite Pushing Permanent Mask Mandate In Her State

Democratic Oregon Governor Kate Brown was spotted maskless at a gala event in Washington D.C., even as she pushes for permanent mask mandates in her state.

Brown was a “featured guest” at the LGBTQ Victory Fund‘s 30th Anniversary Gala in Washington D.C. on Saturday. Brown was also one of four “LGBTQ Victory Hall of Fame Inductees” from the pro-LGBT PAC.

A Twitter user posted a photo of himself standing with Brown and David Gins, Deputy Director of Operations for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“What does it mean when you match with the amazing utterly fabulous and indefatigable champions for equality and progress who are @KateBrownForORand @davidmgins? Thank you both for evening you do for advancing our communities!” the user wrote.

Another user posted a photo that purportedly shows the convention hall where the event took place, with several hundred people in the room without masks.

Meanwhile, in Brown’s home state of Oregon, the Oregon Health Authority is considering a permanent extension of the state’s indoor mask mandate. The Daily Wire reported Friday:

Then on Thursday, December 2, local outlet KGW8 reports that OHA’s Rules Advisory Committee “met to begin the process of drafting a permanent set of rules for the state’s indoor mask requirement.”

The local media outlet notes that while the state ended its outdoor mask requirement last week, the OHA is aiming to extend the indoor mandate. Making the mandate permanent would end the need to reconvene every 180 days to extend temporary mask mandates which have been intermittent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

According to local media, the meeting on Thursday gave “industry stakeholders, such as representatives from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, a chance to review a draft copy of the proposed permanent rule and offer feedback for OHA staff to consider.”

OHA emphasized the permanent rule could be repealed when deemed appropriate, but it remains unclear what metrics are being used to determine the “safety” of repealing indoor masks.

Twitter users were quick to point out the hypocrisy.

“So elite Democrats are exempt from Oregon’s permanent mask mandate?,” Christina Pushaw, Press Secretary for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, tweeted in response to the photo.

“@OregonGovBrown hobnobbing maskless with the D.C. political elite while mandating Oregonians and our children be confined to masks is hypocrisy at its worse. Oregonians deserve new leadership that leads alongside our neighbors, not dictates from afar,” the mayor of Sandy, Oregon, Stan Pulliam tweeted.

“The least popular Governor in the union showing that OHA is out of touch with permanent mask rules,” tweeted Oregon state representative E. Werner Reschke.

“If she believe masks save lives then she needs to wear them everywhere, in state or out of state because the virus does not care, right? Walk the talk.”

“Permanent masks for all Oregonians except for @KateBrownForOR (who isn’t really an Oregonian),” TheBlaze senior editor David Horowitz tweeted.

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek was also a featured guest at the Gala.

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