Trump’s Mar-a-Lago partied like it was 1999 despite COVID. Now, it has been cited
President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago held a New Year’s Eve party in which revelers greeted
2021 as if it were 1999 — meaning mostly maskless — as Berlin and Vanilla Ice performed oldies to a large crowd seemingly unfazed by the COVID-19 crisis.
Except, of course, 2020 and 2021 are not like other years.
South Florida has more cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus than any other part of the state. Health experts maintain that social distancing and the wearing of masks are crucial to help slow the spread.
Berlin singer Teri Nunn sang “No More Words” to a crowd wearing no more masks. On Tuesday, the Palm Beach County Commission had no more patience after videos of the New Year’s Eve revelry floated on social media.
The county sent a warning letter and code violation citation to Mar-a-Lago’s executive vice president and managing director Bernd Lembcke, WPTV 5 and the Palm Beach Post first reported.
But the letter and citation, reviewed by the Miami Herald, both stopped short of issuing monetary fines or drastic measures, like shutting the venue down.
“You must adhere to all facial covering requirements immediately and must comply with all applicable Palm Beach County Emergency Orders,” the citation warns.
“Future violations” could lead to a $15,000 fine per violation, according to the citation.
That word, “future,” did not sit well with state Rep. Omari Hardy, D-West Palm Beach.
Hardy tweeted his disappointment after reading the account.
“County officials agree that Mar-a-Lago violated our mask order, but they’re not trying to fine the business or shut it down even temporarily,” he said. “This is disappointing. It sends a message that you can get away with violating our mask order. Not good.”
A Mar-a-Lago spokesman told the Miami Herald that Lembcke would “have no comment” on the letter or citation.
The letter sent by commissioners noted that officials with Palm Beach County had met with Lembcke after allegations of COVID violations started to surface after social media posts. One of them was from the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who gushed on his Facebook page that Wellington rapper Vanilla Ice was performing his 1990 hit, “Ice Ice Baby” and had given Trump Jr. a shout-out from the stage.
“Vanilla Ice is playing the Mar-a-Lago New Years Eve party. As a child of the ’90s you can’t fathom how awesome that is. Beyond that I got the birthday shoutout so that’s pretty amazing,” a tuxedo-wearing Trump Jr. said in his video post. In another post, he joked that he would rather be in casual clothes for his birthday.
President Trump was not at the New Year’s party at his Palm Beach mansion.
The county’s letter noted that Lembcke had assured them Mar-a-Lago would require masks and had masks in hand to pass out to partygoers. “But based on video evidence there was a breakdown in enforcement of mask orders that led to almost the entire room of guests being without masks during the later evening activities.”
Hardy, who represents Florida District 88 in the state House of Representatives, had previously sent an email to Todd Bonlarron, an assistant county administrator of Palm Beach County, after he saw the video of maskless partygoers at Mar-a-Lago, the Miami Herald reported at the time.
Hardy tweeted that his constituents would “have to deal with the consequences of a potential super-spreader party at Mar-aLago long after Junior and wife leave here on their private jet.”
In his letter to Bonlarron, Hardy urged fines and a possible shutdown. This, he said, applied to other businesses that violate Palm Beach County’s mask mandate, so why not Mar-aLago?
“I recognize that the President is a powerful person and that his business, Mar-a-Lago, is a daunting target for enforcement, but the law is the law,” Hardy wrote.
On Jan. 4, Hardy tweeted, “We’re one step closer to shutting down Mar-aLago.”