The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom is directing residents of the Golden State to keep their face masks on “between bites” of food while dining in public.
The message: In a tweet on Saturday, the Democratic governor’s office said: “Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites.”
- A colorful graphic featured in the post further advised: “COVID-19 DINER TIP 1: Minimize the number of times you take your mask off.”
The state’s COVID-19 guidance requires Californians to wear masks anytime they venture outside the home.
- For obvious reason, one exception to the blanket mandate is when people are eating and drinking.
Anthony Fauci — the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force — recently gave similar advice to “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah.
- Restaurant diners, Fauci said, should “eat drink and then put [the mask] back up when you’re waiting for the waiter or something …”
The reaction: The Twitter directive from Newsom’s office was quickly “ratioed” — with many users deriding it as coronavirus paternalism ad absurdum.
Mediaite columnist John Ziegler offered a particularly blunt assessment of the California executive.
Kyle Mann, the editor-in-chief of the Babylon Bee, a satirical conservative news site, was among those who noted the tweet seemed self-contradictory.
“This is the clowniest mask ‘order’ of them all,” declared political comedian Tim Young.
