superspreader event

South Dakota’s anti-mask governor hosted 25 person dinner party at her home because of course

South Dakota’s antigay, anti-mask governor Kristi Noem is being dragged on Twitter after she hosted a 25 person dinner party at her home earlier this week.

Noem, who opposes same-sex marriage and believes homophobia is “religious freedom”, invited almost two dozen staffers over for dinner and shared a photo from the event on Twitter, along with the caption, “Love having our legislative pages over for dinner! We could not get through session without their help.”

All but one person in the photo is wearing a mask.

Many are criticizing Noem’s dinner event, calling it irresponsible to have that many people in an enclosed space for several hours without masks during an ongoing pandemic.

South Dakota has been one of the worst hit states per capita when it comes to coronavirus, with more than 100,000 cases and 1,800 deaths from the virus. Much of this has to do with Noem, a fervent Trump supporter, refusing to mandate any sort of safety precautions.

Although people have begun receiving the coronavirus vaccine, health officials say that wearing masks and practicing social distancing will still be necessary to help slow the spread of the virus for the foreseeable future.

Here’s how Twitter has responded to Noem’s dinner party…

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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