Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Confronted For Not Wearing Mask In Grocery Store

Lydia O'Connor
·2 min read
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was confronted by a grocery store customer on Thursday for declining to wear a mask inside, several videos of the exchange show.

Youngkin, an opponent of COVID-19 mask mandates, was at an Alexandria, Virginia, Safeway to promote his plan to eliminate the state’s grocery tax when a nearby woman called him out for endangering others.

“Governor, where’s your mask?” the woman called across the checkout aisles to Youngkin, who appeared to be one of the only unmasked people in the store.

“We’re all making choices today,” replied Youngkin, who was being taught how to ring up items by a masked grocery store worker.

The woman fired back: “Yeah, look around you, governor. You’re in Alexandria. Read the room buddy!”

Youngkin didn’t fare well with Alexandria voters in the November election, earning just 24% of the vote there while his Democratic opponent, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, won the rest. The city was also an early adopter of masking ordinances, though the city’s mayor said recently that enforcement is up to the state.

Since taking office in last month, Youngkin has signed executive orders saying parents don’t need to make their children comply with local mask ordinances and rescinding the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all government employees.

Virginia, like much of the country, is experiencing high numbers of COVID-19 cases right now, though they are down from the spike in mid-January. Though studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that booster shots significantly protect people from getting seriously ill from the omicron variant, the strain’s heightened transmissibility has still taken a toll on public health systems.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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