LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Defends Maskless Picture With Magic Johnson: ‘I Grasp My Breath’

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) defended himself from grievance for flouting COVID protection protocols by means of posing maskless for a photograph with NBA legend Magic Johnson right through the NFC Championship recreation on the weekend, pronouncing he held his breath so there was once “a nil % likelihood of an infection.”

“I wore my masks for all of the recreation. When other people ask for {a photograph}, I grasp my breath and I put it (the masks) right here and other people can see that,” Garcetti, who’s President Joe Biden’s nominee for United States ambassador to India, advised newshounds on Wednesday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) drew an identical grievance for disposing of their mask right through the Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers recreation on the SoFi stadium.

Mask are nonetheless obligatory in Los Angeles County for “everybody 2 years of age and older” in “all indoor public puts and at outside Mega Occasions, whether or not they’ve been vaccinated or no longer,” in step with Los Angeles County Public Well being.

Garcetti’s rationalization rang hole for some, then again, given the way it got here right through a press convention outdoor the SoFi selling COVID protection for subsequent weekend’s Tremendous Bowl between the Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.