Stacey Abrams Poses Maskless with Dozens of Masked Children, Deletes Photo amid Fierce Backlash

Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams appeared maskless on Friday in front of dozens of masked elementary school children in a photo that she has since deleted after it sparked widespread outrage.

In the photo, Abrams appears smiling at an elementary school “African-American Read-In” event for Black History Month at Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur, a city within Atlanta Metro’s deeply Democrat Dekalb County.

City Schools of Decatur, which Glennwood Elementary is a part of, specifies on its website that all students and employees inside Decatur school buildings must wear masks. A pamphlet on the website also specifies that cloth masks are among the “approved mask types.”

The photo of Abrams was first shared Friday by Glennwood principal Holly Brookins in a Twitter post, and then retweeted by Abrams, who was subsequently met with a massive wave of criticism for being the only individual in the photo not wearing a mask.

Brookins later deleted the Twitter post, as did Abrams, and Brookins also appears to have since deactivated or deleted her entire Twitter account.

Abrams, an outspoken voting rights activist, is running for governor of Georgia for a second time after losing to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) by a razor-thin margin in 2018. Abrams has repeatedly accused Georgia of “inaction” over its coronavirus response, though it is unclear what her exact position on masks is.- READ MORE