Nancy Pelosi faces backlash for visiting closed salon in San Francisco
Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy reacts, calling Pelosi 'hypocritical' and 'elitist.'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is a “hypocrite,” Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy said on Wednesday in a scathing attack on the lawmaker for visiting a San Francisco hair salon on Monday afternoon for a wash and blow-out, despite local ordinances keeping salons closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Americans just really hate this kind of elitism,” Campos-Duffy told “Fox & Friends.”
“I had to wear a ponytail, I had to cut my kid’s hair by myself in my kitchen, and made a mess of my 4-year-old's hair. Why does Nancy Pelosi get to do this?”
PELOSI ANNOUNCES CORONAVIRUS MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED IN HOUSE CHAMBER
In security footage obtained by Fox News, and timestamped Monday at 3:08 p.m. Pacific Time, the California powerhouse is seen walking through eSalon in San Francisco with wet hair, and without a mask over her mouth or nose.
The stylist doing her hair can be seen following her wearing a black face mask.
Salons in San Francisco had been closed since March and were only notified they could reopen on Sept. 1 for outdoor hairstyling services only.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS MAP
Salon owner Erica Kious, in a phone interview with Fox News on Tuesday, shared details of Pelosi’s visit. Kious explained she has independent stylists working for her who rent chairs in her salon.
“One of the stylists who rents a chair from me contacted me Sunday night,” Kious said.
A screengrab of the text message she received from one of her stylists, and obtained by Fox News, said: “I’ll be there at 2:45 tomorrow. Pelosi assistant just messaged me to do her hair.”
Kious replied: “Pelosi?”
“I was like, are you kidding me right now? Do I let this happen? What do I do?” Kious told Fox News, while noting that she "can’t control” what her stylists do if they rent chairs from her, as “they’re not paying” at this time.
Kious cast Pelosi’s visit as a double standard.
“It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work,” Kious told Fox News, adding that she “can’t believe” the speaker didn’t have a mask on. (From the footage, it appears Pelosi had some kind of covering around her neck.)
“We’re supposed to look up to this woman, right?” Kious said. “It is just disturbing.”
Asked for comment, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill maintained that the speaker was following the rules as presented to her.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Campos-Duffy said the problem with Pelosi going to a closed salon is not solely her getting a haircut.
“It’s not just the haircuts and the salons and the business owners who have lost their dreams. Many of them have shut down because they can’t afford it anymore,” Campos-Duffy said. “But, we’re talking about people who couldn’t bury their grandmothers, but, if you were a member of Congress, you could have a funeral for your family member. We’re talking about people who are going to restaurants when they’re telling people that they can’t go to restaurants. It’s across-the-board hypocrisy and it is undermining, I think, the way we all look at government and all of us want an egalitarian kind of society where we’re all treated equally.”
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
