‘Rank hypocrisy‘: LA County supervisor caught dining outside HOURS after voting to ban the practice

Los Angeles County supervisor Sheila Kuehl was found dining outdoors at a restaurant in Santa Monica mere hours after she voted to ban the practice over Covid-19 safety concerns.

Kuehl was seen dining outside at her “favorite” Italian restaurant on the beachfront city last Tuesday, shortly after voting. When approached by a FOX 11 reporter, the managers said they “didn’t want to get involved,” and declined to comment.

On Monday, however, the sighting of Kuehl was confirmed by a spokesperson, who gave a statement to the local news channel.

Kuehl said she had been “saddened” to see the restaurant suffering declining revenue during the pandemic and was supporting it “on the very last day it was permissible.”

“She ate there, taking appropriate precautions and sadly will not dine there again until our Public Health Orders permit,” the statement read.

Notably, at the County Board of Supervisors meeting prior to the restaurant visit, Kuehl had described outside dining as “a most dangerous” experience, saying unmasked patrons could potentially expose the servers to Covid-19. 

“This is a serious health emergency and we must take it seriously,” the official said, adding, “The servers are not protected from us, and they’re not protected from their other tables that they’re serving at that particular time, plus all the hours in which they’re working.”

Kuehl later went on to vote for restricting outdoor dining in Los Angeles county, a decision that passed by a 3-2 margin.

The supervisor ended up on the receiving end of public backlash, with locals accusing her of "hypocrisy.”

"For me it’s just proof of the continuous hypocrisy and just the lack of leadership and education as to what’s happening right now in this sort of shoot from the hip mentality that’s not doing anybody any good,” a local restaurant owner told Fox 11. 

“That sends a message that we’re getting direction from people that aren’t really believing in messages they’re making," he added.

Social media reaction to the revelation about Kuehl was not much different, as commenters accused California’s “ruling class” of “rank hypocrisy.”

Indeed, the supervisor is not the only, and not the highest-ranked state official, to have sent mixed signals with regards to their own anti-coronavirus rules. Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom made headlines for attending a dinner party that broke state guidelines. Following public outcry, the governor conceded in a statement that he should have “modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner.”

Even earlier, in September, top Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was seen in a closed hair salon without a facemask on. The congresswoman later claimed it was a “setup,” adding that the salon “owed her an apology.”

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