BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards responded Wednesday to a photo going around social media showing him without a mask and not practicing social distancing while at a restaurant in November while the state was under his Phase 3 restrictions.
During his press briefing on Wednesday, Edwards was asked if it was him in the photo, which he confirmed. He also responded by saying that he did not violate his own rules that were in place during Phase 3.
"There was absolutely nothing I did that day that violated the rules that were in place during Phase 3, which is when that happened or today’s rules," Edwards said.
KATC reached out to the governor's office, which confirmed that it was Edwards who was in the photo while he was at the Baton Rouge Country Club around Nov. 8 - 9.
Edwards said that he was outdoors at a table when the photo was taken and was getting up to leave.
"Had that photo been taken 10 seconds later you would’ve seen me with a mask on until the time I got into the car and actually until the time I got back to my residence," he said.
"I don’t think we ask anybody to eat at a table with a mask on," the governor said. "But you’ll see that I’m outdoors and violated absolutely none of the mitigation measures that we have in place."
The state was under Phase 3 from Sept. 11 until Nov. 25 and included a statewide mask mandate where individuals are to wear masks when six feet of social distance cannot be maintained.
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