The mayor of Austin, Texas has managed to land himself in a spot of trouble after ordering citizens of the city to stay home, whilst he was on holiday, something not unlike a memorable scene from The Simpsons.
In a Facebook video, shared way back on 9 November, Steve Adler told the people of Austin to stay home and not to become complacent during the Covid-19 pandemic and keep themselves and others safe by staying indoors and that this was "not the time to relax". However, what Adler failed to disclose to anyone that had listened to him was that his warning video was actually recorded while he was on a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with his family.
This revelation was exposed by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. But Adler, who is a Democrat, has claimed that by going on holiday he has not broken any laws or regulations. Speaking to the publication he said, "There was no recommendation for people not to travel during that period of time. Someone could look at me and say, ‘He travelled.’ But what they could not say is that I travelled at a time when I was telling other people not to travel."
However, Adler did not say in his video that he was Mexico. In the clip, he says "We need to stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax. We are going to be looking really closely … We may have to close things down if we are not careful." Tony Plohetski, the journalist who broke the story did add that Adler didn't break any rules by going to Mexico and had reportedly followed safety guidelines while he was abroad.
Adler did not violate his own order or those by Gov. Greg Abbott. However, city hall insiders have begun quietly di… https://t.co/otr175AXHQ— Tony Plohetski (@Tony Plohetski) 1606938052
This is not the first time that Adler has played fast and loose with Covid-19 restrictions. Earlier this year he hosted an outdoor wedding for his daughter which had 20 guests in attendance. Although all the guests had to take a test and maintain social distancing he did admit that not everyone in attendance was wearing a face mask at all times.
If this all sounds familiar then you are probably a massive fan of The Simpsons. If so, cast your mind back to episode 21, season 4 of the beloved show, where during a flu epidemic that befalls Springfield, Mayor Joe Quimby makes a special announcement where he confirms that he has cancelled his trip to the Bahamas and he will not be leaving the city at all. Except he has gone to the Bahamas as the hilarious scene reveals that he is giving his broadcast from a beach.
Now we have previously said that claiming that Simpsons predicted things that happen in the news is often very tenuous but this very episode also featured a scene of Springfield residents demanding and a swarm of killer bees not unlike the 'murder hornets' we saw earlier this year so maybe we'll give this one episode a pass, as it was evidently, quite on the money.
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