Photo: Getty Images
Stacey Abrams is responding to criticism after she posed maskless with children during Black History Month event.
The current Georgia governor Brian Kemp and former Senator David Purdue –– Abrams' likely opponents in the upcoming governor's race –– lambasted Abrams online Saturday (February 5) over the photo taken at a Decatur school, in which all of the other adults and children in the picture wore masks.
Purdue, who lost the 2020 election to Sen. Jon Ossoff, tweeted, "Stacey Abrams wants state government mask mandates for Georgians and their children. But it looks like it wouldn't apply when she's attending a photo op."
Abrams fired back, writing that Kemp and Purdue's criticism is both "pitiful and predictable."
"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," the Spelman alumna wrote in a statement.
"It is pitiful and predictable that our opponents continue to look for opportunities to distract from their failed records when it comes to protecting the public health during the pandemic."
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also chimed in, reminding Gov. Kemp all that he did to prevent mayors across the state from enforcing pandemic-related policies on masking, testing and more.
"Another of her opponents attacked mayors seeking to protect their citizens and has failed to expand Medicaid even as rural hospitals close," Bottoms said.
"This pathetic, transparent and silly attack is beneath anyone who claims he wants to lead Georgia," she added.
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