New York Governor Kathy Hochul, recently re-elected, was called up for not wearing a facemask as she celebrated her midterm win with a class full of Puerto Rican students — who were forced to wear them.
Hochul, 64, traveled to Puerto Rico on Friday to hand out backpacks and school supplies to students, while New York state pledged to help the country after it was devastated by Hurricane Fiona in September.
While visiting a school in San Juan with President Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Hochul was filmed merrily dancing next to a classroom of students, all wearing masks.
Mask mandates are largely being lifted across the country, although schools can still require children to wear them – but visiting adults like Hochul, ironically, doesn’t have to happen.
Hochul was criticized earlier this year for adhering to mask mandates, especially in schools, and for implementing a COVID-19 passport, which required restaurants and indoor operations to check vaccination status.
In addition, New York City only lifted its public transportation mask mandates in September.
Several conservatives were quick to criticize the Democratic governor just days after she won the re-election of Republican candidate Lee Zeldin, over the now viral video.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (pictured) was filmed merrily dancing next to a classroom of students, all wearing masks as she went maskless, which quickly drew criticism from conservatives
Hochul, 64, traveled to Puerto Rico on Friday to hand out backpacks and school supplies to students as New York State pledged to help the country after it was devastated by Hurricane Fiona in September.
Mask mandates are largely being lifted across the country, although schools can still require children to wear them
The Republican National Convention (RNC) Research wrote on Twitter: “Here’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul celebrating her re-election the only way she knows how: forcing young children to wear masks.”
As pandemic restrictions eased, many conservative states quickly dropped masking mandates and pounded Democratic states, such as New York, which had only recently lifted restrictions on public transportation.
Journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweeted: ‘Kathy Hochul visits a school in San Juan. She doesn’t wear a mask, but all kids should. Know your better, farmers.’
Social worker Justin Spiro wondered, “Why does Governor Hochul and almost every adult have a mask without a mask, when almost every child has a mask?” Is that the rule at this school in Puerto Rico?’
Tom Elliott, owner of Grabien.com, said: ‘Forcing children to wear masks while exploiting them for your own political career. What a shameful cruelty.’
Jason Howerton, a conservative commentator, also chided Hochul for “breathing free” while the kids danced around wearing masks.
“They have learned nothing. And why would they have? New York, you just chose this woman after witnessing the total destruction of your state. You get what you voted for,” he tweeted.
Several conservatives were quick to criticize the Democratic governor, saying she “forced” the children to wear masks while “breathing free”
The Young Americans for Liberty called Hochul a ‘tyrant’ [who] encouraged” and warned New Yorkers that they “will get what they voted for.”
‘Masks on the children. No mask for @GovKathyHochul. She’s special, you see,” the organization said on Twitter.
Charles Downs, a conservative activist, claimed that Hochul was the “worst” and claimed that Hochul would turn New York City into Seattle.
“Remember in Portland and Seattle, crime, ANTIFA and all the crazy waking ideologies are taking the suburbs. Democrats destroy states!’ he tweeted.
Shortly after the midterms, New York announced it would send additional aid to Puerto Rico to help stabilize it after the hurricane.
Hochul also announced that the state would send 19,000 pounds of food from farms in New York to the island.
“The devastation Fiona left behind is no match for the strength and resilience of our friends and family in Puerto Rico,” Hochul said Friday.
While also in Puerto Rico, Hochul met with Mayor Miguel Romero to “discuss how we can continue to work together to grow the vital relationship between San Juan and New York.”
“I thank our New York farmers who have consistently answered the call to support our neighbors in need, and I look forward to a more sustainable pipeline of fresh produce going to and from the island for years to come.”
New York state feeding sent 37,000 pounds of food in September after the hurricane hit.
In addition, a new trade deal has been signed between the country and New York, under which Puerto Ricans will buy apples, onions and cabbage grown in the Empire State, while New York will buy mango, papaya and seedless watermelon, according to the report. ABC 7.
In Puerto Rico, Hochul also met with Mayor Miguel Romero to “discuss how we can continue to work together to grow the vital relationship between San Juan and New York.”
She also announced that New York would open a Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration Office in the Bronx, so “Puerto Rican New Yorkers [don’t] have to travel to get records needed for everyday life.”
November has also been declared Puerto Rican Heritage Month in the state.
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