House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been captured on camera while visiting eSalon in San Francisco to get a wash and a blow-dry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Security camera footage spread on social media shows Pelosi walking inside the salon without a protective mask and in violation of new rules issued by California since the coronavirus pandemic started.
The salon owner, Erica Kious, who released the footage on Tuesday, described Pelosi's actions as a "slap in the face", criticising the congresswoman for hypocrisy, since she herself has urged the public to follow safety measures during the pandemic and advocated for keeping services closed. While businesses that have complied with the rules are struggling to survive, she decided that doing her hair was of more importance.
"It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can't work", Kious told Fox News.
Pelosi's spokesman insisted later the house speaker always wears a mask and that the salon could service one customer in a day. However, the salon owner said that "you're not supposed to blow dry hair" in accordance with the guidelines introduced for hair salons. "We're supposed to look up to this woman, right? It is just disturbing", Kious said.