According to a Monday New Day panel on CNN consisting of Margaret Hoover and Bakari Sellers, Stacey Abrams posing for a photo without a mask surrounded by masked children was not hypocritical, but rather just an honest mistake.
Hoover began by claiming Abrams' biggest issue was not the actual hypocrisy, but just the political absent-mindedness of the photo-op. "Because understanding politically the dynamics in a, a, in the state that she is in, you know, there is a narrative about Democrats believing that a mask is, you know, for thee and not for me," she said.
Adding: "There is this, you know false narrative -- not a false narrative, there’s just this notion that the mask debates and this narrative that the left and the Democrats are trying to tell you how to run your life but they won't hold themselves to the same standard."
Another mistake was giving Fox News something to talk about. "To me, it seems like a clear and obvious mistake but one that, you know, is right for Fox News segments for the next six months to play on a loop. So, I think, you know, she recognized it's an unhelpful image, but it seems, you know, like it was an honest mistake," she stated with a shrug.
Sellers then joined the conversation and admitted the optics were "unhelpful," but also suggested the matter was being overblown, saying, "The people, though, who are outraged weren’t going to vote for Stacey Abrams anyway." Not only was Abrams not being hypocritical, but Sellers also claimed she didn't even do anything wrong.
According to him, "Stacey Abrams is, is not trying to harm children; she was not flaunting regulations purposefully. She took a picture with her mask off and everyone else had their mask on, so there, there’s not an issue there, but politically she probably wants the day back because now she is going to lose a week or two having to deal with this issue which is, for the most part, a nonissue."
Sellers also declared that because it was Abrams's first instance of hypocrisy, we should just let the matter go. "You just cannot have this type of unforced error, for lack of a better term, multiple times. So she, she gets a mulligan for this one, I'm sure, and the campaign will move on," he proclaimed.
Host Brianna Keilar was the closest to condemning Abrams' hypocrisy and asked Sellers how he could be so confident that the photo will not hurt Abrams' campaign. Sellers concluded by declaring: "I think most people will look at the context and then they'll do something which is absolutely crazy during this time period, they’ll actually look at her policies and they’ll see she wants children in the classrooms. She just wants them in there in a responsible fashion and I think most parents will be able to get on board as long they can have input into the decisions around educating their kids."
This segment was sponsored by Carvana
Here is a transcript for the February 7 show:
CNN's At This Hour with John Berman and Brianna Keilar
2/7/22
6:21 AM ETBRIANNA KEILAR: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams pushing back after facing backlash for appearing in a since-deleted tweet that featured her maskless surrounded by children who were wearing their masks. Abrams has championed more stringent masking policies in schools. The Abrams campaign in a statement wrote “It is shameful that our opponents are using a Black History Month reading event for Georgia children as the impetus for a false political attack and it is pitiful and predictable that our opponents continue to look for opportunities to distract from their failed records when it comes to protecting public health during the pandemic.” Margaret and Bakari are back with us to talk about this. Okay Margaret first, how do you think she did there?
MARGARET HOOVER: Look, seems pretty clear to me that she, she wore her mask during the event as everybody who has opined since then, took it off for the photo, and realized that was a mistake. Because understanding politically the dynamics in a, a, in the state that she is in, you know, there is a narrative about Democrats believing that a mask is, you know, for thee and not for me. There is this, you know false narrative, not a false narrative, there’s just this notion that the mask debates and this narrative that the left and the Democrats are trying to tell you how to run your life but they won't hold themselves to the same standard. It plays into, it’s really an age-all, age-old narrative about Democrats versus Republicans, the sort-of limousine liberal narrative. That's what's at play here. To me it seems like a clear and obvious mistake but one that, you know, is right for Fox News segments for the next six months to play on a loop. So, I think that’s, as evidenced by the fact that she took the tweet down -- the photo down, I think, you know, she recognized it's an unhelpful image, but it seems, you know, like it was an honest mistake.
JOHN BERMAN: Bakari, I saw a smile there
BAKARI SELLERS: Yeah, I mean in politics is it unhelpful? The answer is yes, because now we’re talking about it on CNN. Trust me, they’re going to be talking about it on Fox News all week long and so it definitely ain't helpful. The people, though, who are outraged weren’t going to vote for Stacey Abrams anyway.From a public health perspective or from a just pure perspective did she make a mistake if my kid was in the classroom, would I be outraged? The answer is definitely not. Stacey Abrams is, is not trying to harm children; she was not flaunting regulations purposefully. She took a picture with her mask off and everyone else had their mask on, so there, there’s not an issue there, but politically she probably wants the day back because now she is going to lose a week or two having to deal with this issue which is, for the most part, a nonissue. Stacey Abrams is going to run a hell of a race, it’s going to be extremely close. She’s going to outrage Kemp and having Kemp versus Purdue is a very interesting dynamic in the Republican primary itself. You just cannot have this type of unforced error, for lack of a better term, multiple times. So she, she gets a mulligan for this one, I'm sure, and the campaign will move on.
KEILAR: But, I, I wonder, Bakari, how can you be so sure that there won’t be people who would think about voting for her that are even, you know, kind of, mildly turned off by this? Stacey Abrams has, has really shown she is able to pull together a voting coalition. Certainly some of those people could be folks who are a little -- you know, they’re just sort of peeved at what they’ve been through when it comes to kids and COVID in school.
SELLERS: No doubt. But I don’t, I, I have a hard time believing and one of the things that, that Terry McAuliffe showed us is that you have to be truly concerned and sensitive to how parents feel about their children in classrooms and making sure they're in school. My only point is I don't think a picture where we know the context of that picture and trust and believe Georgians know the context, that she was wearing, wearing a mask throughout and she decided to take it off for the picture, I don't think that's going to drive away voters that she has an opportunity to win. In, in fact, I think most people will look at the context and then they'll do something which is absolutely crazy during this time period, they’ll actually look at her policies and they’ll see she wants children in the classrooms, she just wants them in there in a responsible fashion and I think most parents will be able to get onboard as long they can have input into the decisions around educating their kids.
