Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Photo / Getty Images
A Florida politician wants US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club fined and closed temporarily after footage emerged of a New Year's Eve party showing hundreds of guests not wearing masks.
Democratic state representative Omari Hardy emailed a complaint to Palm Beach County, drawing attention to footage of the party, which featured a performance from rapper Vanilla Ice, and asking whether authorities would be enforcing its coronavirus rules.
"We can't have a mandate that we enforce on all business owners except for the President," Hardy tweeted.
"Fairness dictates that we treat the President and his business just as we would treat anyone else."
In the email Hardy points out that the county's emergency order places responsibility on businesses to require patrons to wear masks, and authorities can fine businesses US$250 ($347) for violations and up to US$500 ($700) for additional offences.
He also noted the county had previously shut down businesses for repeatedly not complying with the mask mandate.
"I am calling on Palm Beach County to fine Mar-a-Lago and to shut it down. The County must be assured that this business will comply with our local mask mandate before it is allowed to reopen," Hardy said in a statement provided to CBS12.
In footage posted on social media including on Donald Trump Jr's Facebook account, a large crowd is seen dancing and singing along as Vanilla Ice performs his hit songs.
"Okay this is amazing. Vanilla Ice is playing the Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party. As a child of the 90s you can't fathom how awesome that is," Trump Jr wrote on Facebook.
Vanilla Ice later released a statement saying that all guests had been tested for the coronavirus before the party.
"The New Year's Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago was awesome. We danced we celebrated. We had a great time," he wrote.
"It's not about politics at all. This is about dancing and enjoying New Year's."
New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago during deadly pandemic pic.twitter.com/oICbuJzpH1
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) January 1, 2021
Other performers on the night included Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love and singer Taylor Dayne.
Palm Beach County assistant administrator Todd Bonlarron said Monday he has forwarded Hardy's complaint to the county's Covid education team, which will investigate and could impose punishment, Associated Press reported.
He said Mar-a-Lago a decision would be made shortly and the club would be treated like any other business.
Vanilla Ice issues statement after backlash for performing at Mar-a-Lago’s packed, maskless New Year’s Eve party. @CBS12 pic.twitter.com/1suLe7HPeO
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) January 4, 2021
President Trump didn't attend the New Year's Eve party, choosing to cut short his vacation by a day and returned to Washington on Thursday afternoon.
The US, like many other countries, is facing a grim surge in coronavirus cases. Deaths have spiked to record levels recently, reaching almost 4000 deaths in one day.
Mar-a-Lago is a club. A club is a business. Businesses must abide by Palm Beach County's mask order, or be fined or even shut down. We knew that Trump was hosting a New Year's party. I'll be reaching out to folks at @pbcgov to ask why we weren't ready to enforce the mandate here. https://t.co/2HtJEXiBcE
— Rep. Omari Hardy (@OmariJHardy) January 1, 2021
In total more than 350,000 people have died from the disease in the United States and 20.6 million people have been infected.
Trump has had nothing to say about the pandemic in recent days except to blame state officials for delays in vaccine distribution.