Source: Politics<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an eventful year to say the least. But when historians look back on images of all that\u2019s happened, it\u2019ll be easy to place 2021 in the Covid era if only for the ubiquity of one particular item of apparel.<\/p>\n
As the coronavirus mutated, dragging out the pandemic as well as its polarizing precautions, it\u2019s no wonder that so many have turned their masks into platforms for their politics. From members of Congress to protesters in the streets, people have used protective face coverings to make a statement.<\/p>\n
POLITICO Magazine compiled a photo gallery of some of the most distinctive political masks across 2021. Together, these photos capture a remarkable year as new, high-stakes political fights collided with an ongoing, and still deadly, pandemic.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 4, with control of the Senate hanging in the balance, President-elect Joe Biden campaigned in Atlanta with then-candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia\u2019s two runoff elections. Biden and Warnock wore masks that said \u201cVote.\u201d The next day, huge Black turnout delivered Democrats the narrowest of majorities.<\/p>\n
When hundreds of people rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, few were wearing masks at all, but the ones who were typically had American flag iconography or MAGA symbols on theirs. One woman\u2019s mask read, \u201cJesus is my savior. Trump is my president,\u201d as Congress certified Biden\u2019s November election victory over Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
On Inauguration Day, PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor tweeted<\/a> a picture of new White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain sporting a red and blue \u201cUnity!\u201d mask. \u201cIt\u2019s the message of the day,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n As Texas experienced a brutal winter storm in February, one of the state\u2019s Republican senators, Ted Cruz, was caught heading on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. His mask, ironically, displayed the Texas flag. The image went viral, and amid intense backlash, Cruz vowed to quickly return to his home state that was facing its own disaster.<\/p>\n At this year\u2019s Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held in Orlando to avoid coronavirus restrictions, organizers urged attendees to wear masks and were booed for it. Some people wore masks emblazoned with \u201cfreedom\u201d \u2014 the word many shouted in retort to any request to wear a mask. Others used the additional item of clothing to further venerate Trump, the headliner of the event, who continued to push his election falsehoods.<\/p>\n As Amazon workers in Birmingham, Ala., made a unionization push, several members of Congress came out to support them. That included the newly elected liberal Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who wore a \u201cGood Trouble\u201d mask bearing the message of the late civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).<\/p>\n Across the country, members of the Asian American community and others in solidarity protested against anti-Asian violence after a noticeable rise in hate crimes against Asians during the pandemic. Multiple demonstrations took place in New York City, where people wore an array of messages on their masks, including \u201cStop Asian Hate\u201d (top), the Chinese character for \u201cProtect\u201d (bottom left) and \u201cHate is a virus\u201d (bottom right).<\/p>\n Despite racking up tens of thousands of dollars in fines for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was probably the member of Congress most fond of using a mask as a message board, displaying everything from \u201cTrump won\u201d on her first day on the job to \u201cStop the Steal\u201d on Jan. 4, \u201cMolon labe\u201d (an ancient Greek phrase used by gun rights enthusiasts meaning \u201cCome and take [them]\u201d), \u201cCensored\u201d while speaking to the media, \u201cEnd abortion,\u201d \u201cReopen America,\u201d \u201cFree speech,\u201d \u201cAmerica First,\u201d \u201cImpeach Biden\u201d and \u201cThis mask is as useless as Joe Biden.\u201d For several months, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) pushed unsuccessfully for his colleagues to expel Greene from Congress, arguing that she has repeatedly endorsed dangerous extremism and political violence. In May, Gomez wore an \u201cExpel MTG\u201d mask to the Capitol.<\/p>\n Top left: People in Minneapolis, including some with masks noting various activist organizations, cheered after the guilty verdict was announced at the trial of Derek Chauvin for the 2020 killing of George Floyd. Top right: At Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House in May, Floyd\u2019s nephew Brandon Williams (right) wore a mask with an image of Floyd on it, as he stood next to Floyd\u2019s brother Philonise Floyd (left). Bottom left: A group outside the Glynn County, Ga., Courthouse in November wore masks with the hashtag \u201c#IRWM\u201d (I run with Maud) as three men were charged with the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging. Bottom right: A woman at a rally in Chicago to protest the not-guilty verdict of Kyle Rittenhouse \u2014 who shot three men, killing two, during unrest in Kenosha, Wis., last year \u2014 wears a \u201cNo justice, no peace\u201d mask.<\/p>\n After the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, as American troops withdrew from Afghanistan, protesters around the world expressed concern for the plight of Afghan citizens, particularly women, under Taliban rule. Above, a woman at a demonstration in Brussels appended the message \u201c#SaveAfghanistan\u201d on her mask.<\/p>\n A woman at a Women\u2019s March in New York City on Oct. 2 wears a mask featuring a uterus with the slogan \u201cmy body my choice\u201d and cartoon fallopian tubes giving the middle finger. Across the country, demonstrations took place in protest of a new strict anti-abortion law in Texas and in anticipation of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court\u2019s hearing of a case on abortion that could overturn Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n In late October, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) wore a \u201cLet\u2019s Go Brandon\u201d mask at the Capitol. The slogan is a not-so-secret right-wing code for \u201cF— Joe Biden.\u201d Duncan posted<\/a> the photo of himself wearing the mask on social media, writing: \u201cThe American people are furious at Joe Biden\u2019s presidency, and rightfully so. I stand with them. \u2026 C\u2019mon Brandon.\u201d<\/p>\n The Build Back Better plan, Biden\u2019s big social spending bill that underwent endless negotiations in Congress this year and may never pass, was the subject of many demonstrations in Washington by groups pushing their favored policies \u2014 from clean energy to child care to student debt relief. In mid-November, one demonstrator with a North Carolina-based group advocating for a higher minimum wage wore a mask that stated, \u201cYep I\u2019m Essential.\u201d<\/p>\n