Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot this week was caught breaking her own directives over the coronavirus emergency when an innocent social media posting over the weekend by her hairdresser showed the two standing close together – neither wearing masks or other protective clothing.

The mayor’s haircut embarrassment shows that rather than distinguishing herself as a different class of elected official, she is the archetypal Illinois politician, said Jeanne Ives, Republican candidate for Congress in the Sixth District.

“She prioritizes image over substance and subscribes to the ruling class’ ‘two sets of rules,’” Ives, a former state representative from Wheaton, told Chicago City Wire. “One for the political elite and a different set for all others. It's business as usual.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot with hairdresser Cashmere Neal. | YouTube

Hair saloons are required to be closed under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order covering non-essential businesses statewide. And in an earlier public service announcement, Lightfoot urged people to stay home during pandemic. “Getting your roots done is not essential,” she said in the announcement.

The mayor tried to defend herself, telling a reporter “I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye. I take my personal hygiene very seriously. As I said, I felt like I needed to have a haircut. I’m not able to do that myself, so I got a haircut.”

She also said the hairdresser, identified as Cashmere Neal, wore gloves and a mask while cutting her hair. Neal could not be reached for comment on whether she wore protective clothing.

Neal did write in a Facebook post Sunday that she had “the pleasure of giving mayor Lightfoot a hair trim. Lori Lightfoot thank you for all the hard work and dedication put forth to help our city. It was a very relaxing experience she let me play my music and get in my mode. Very nice lady and down to earth. “

Others weren’t so kind.

Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a Democratic member of the Chicago City Council, blasted the mayor for violating her own directives. 

 “She is under no obligation to look good on national TV,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “She is under no obligation to book national interviews. But she is under an obligation to follow and promote social distancing in order to save lives. This is a bad example for our city.”

Steve Cortes, senior adviser to America First Action PAC, wrote on his Twitter account:

“Would you like a haircut but can’t get one because of shelter-in-place orders? Well, our petty tyrant Mayor Lightfoot got one. ‘Social distancing for thee but not for me’ is your message to our city.”