Trump skewers Pelosi’s mask-free hair appointment

US President Donald Trump rounded on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pic) after she was caught on camera visiting a San Francisco hair salon in breach of coronavirus lockdown rules – and with her face mask removed.

The Democrat, a bete noire for Trump and his supporters, regularly hounds the billionaire Republican for his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 180,000 people in the United States.

In June she targeted his procrastination over endorsing the use of face masks, widely seen as one of the most effective ways of controlling infection rates.

“Real men wear masks,” she said. Trump was not seen wearing one publicly until July.

Surveillance footage shows Pelosi walking from room to room inside the hair salon on Monday with her face mask removed.

Such treatments are still banned indoors in San Francisco as part of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the virus.

“Crazy Nancy Pelosi is being decimated for having a beauty parlour opened, when all others are closed, and for not wearing a mask – despite constantly lecturing everyone else,” the president tweeted, using one of his favourite mocking nicknames.

Pelosi suggested however that the salon had misled her by claiming they were allowed to accommodate one customer at a time.

“I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighbourhood salon that I’ve been to over the years many times,” Pelosi told reporters.

“As it turns out, it was a setup. So I take responsibility for falling for a setup,” she added. — AFP