Amid growing attention on mask mandates creeping back into the picture in some areas of the country, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office posted a photo of Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock, the two Democratic senators from Georgia.
In the photo, both men are wearing masks — for the record, President Biden declared that the COVID-19 pandemic was “over” in a Sept. 2022 appearance on 60 Minutes.
3 years of delivering for Georgia. pic.twitter.com/JrxmYNV5Fy
— Ossoff’s Office (@SenOssoff) January 20, 2024
Turns out, the photo was originally taken during their January 2021 inauguration, which begs the question of why would Ossoff’s Senate office use a dated photo of the men wearing masks to mark the occasion unless there was an underlying message intended.
Georgia’s 2 senators-elect, Raphael Warnock & Jon Ossoff, arrive at the inauguration. They will be sworn-in at 4:30pm today with Vice President Kamala Harris presiding in the Senate.
(Photo: Ossoff team) pic.twitter.com/NhATa8zYs3— Brendan Keefe – Atlanta News First (@BrendanKeefe) January 20, 2021
The irony here is that there’s a good chance neither man would be in office today but for the pandemic and the loosened restrictions on voting that were ushered in during that time.
Ossoff’s office made no attempt to designate that an aged photo was being used in the tweet. It’s almost as if they were intentionally setting people up to wrongly accuse the Democrat politicians of still wearing masks today.
Eventually, Community Notes would point out that the photo was from 2021, but there were plenty of reactions on social media before that happened.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
The masks are a big improvement. Keep wearing them.
— Famous Economist Milton Keynes (@FamousMilton) January 21, 2024
Two people who do not represent the majority of Georgians. It will take a while to undo the mess that Covid elections gave us, but I’m confident the Georgia electorate will replace you after your terms are done. No reelection for out of touch leftists who don’t truly understand…
— Sam S. (@GenX_Sam) January 20, 2024
The masks instantly discredit you.
— Mary Talley Bowden MD (@MdBreathe) January 21, 2024
Are they about to rob a train or something?
— The Yootopian (@TheYootopian) January 20, 2024
Georgia’s two Democrat senators are still wearing masks. Today. In 2024. Beyond embarrassing. https://t.co/kOw0pLu2B9
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 22, 2024
These are Georgia’s senators….
Wearing face diapers….
In 2024…..
What a couple of f^cking idiots https://t.co/IxFL2rIjRB
— Mike (@Mikedknight) January 22, 2024
You’d think that they’d take the masks off for at least the photo op. https://t.co/xLfS1Jo66p
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) January 21, 2024
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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