A lawmaker from Florida wants outgoing President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club penalized and shuttered temporarily for hosting a New Year's Eve party where most of the 500 guests did not wear any face covering as they sang, laughed and danced indoors in possible violation of coronavirus ordinances, based on multiple reports Tuesday.
"I'm calling on Palm Beach County to fine Mar-a-Lago and to close it down. The county must be assured that this business will comply with local mask mandate before it's permitted to reopen," CBS12 quoted Florida Democratic State Representative Omari Hardy as saying.
The congressman had shared on Twitter two videos that showed the New Year's party. "My constituents live here. This is their home, and they're going to have to deal with the consequences of a potential super-spreader party at Mar-a-Lago long after Junior [Donald J. Trump Jr.] and wife leave here on their private jet," one of the tweets showed.
Trump was not present during the party, although his two sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, were in attendance. Trump had reportedly planned to join the party to welcome the new year but flew back to Washington, D.C., ahead of the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election win in Congress.
Hardy said he was "angry" when he saw videos of the $1,000-per-person social gathering posted on social media. The footage shows guests packed together on the dance floor as singer Taylor Dane and rapper Vanilla Ice performed. Hardy said the partygoers' actions put the health of the club's personnel and the local community in danger.
Florida is one of only three states that has exceeded 1 million coronavirus infections, with nearly 22,000 fatalities from the virus. The U.S. has almost 21 million COVID cases, with 354,000 deaths.
