While Biden Insults States That Re-Open, His WH Staff Enjoy Special Barber Shop Kept Open for Them
President Joe Biden’s White House is sending a very distinct message with its barber shop: Hair cuts for me, not for thee.
Biden, you’ll remember, is against mass reopening. Just a few weeks ago, he said Mississippi and Texas were engaged in “Neanderthal thinking” when they lifted their mask mandate.
“Look, I hope everybody’s realized by now, these masks make a difference,” Biden said.
“The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything is fine, take off your masks, forget it. It still matters.”
NEW: President Biden calls Texas and Mississippi decisions to end mask mandates “a big mistake” and criticizes what he views as “Neanderthal thinking” after CDC warned against complacency in the face of emerging coronavirus variants on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Mmdln3gNG6
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 3, 2021
Meanwhile, the new White House barber shop — opened under former President Donald Trump’s administration so that administration officials could get haircuts while Washington, D.C., shuttered its salons — is still open. Neanderthal thinking apparently prevails at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., provided you’re a member of the administration.
According to the New York Post, the Biden administration has kept the first official barber shop in the White House in some time. The service, started as lockdowns began to hit last year, was originally so clandestine it was relegated to a downstairs bathroom in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is next to the White House proper.
“The initial secret operation — a source of intrigue and humor among Trump’s staff — employed a female Asian-American duo that sources say were recommended to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ wife, Debbie Meadows, by the wife of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio),” the Post reported. “Four former White House aides said Meadows’ role in establishing the speakeasy coiffeur was widely known to his staff.”
Cost for a haircut in the bathroom barber shop was “$60 or $70 with tip included,” the Post said. While women could have taken advantage of it, the service was aimed toward men.
“I’m sure they would have agreed to style women, though it was definitely targeted to the male staffers. I can’t say for sure if any women ever went,” a former Trump White House aide said.
The unofficial system became official in October of 2020, with a contract given to a local haircutter frequented by White House staff, Wall’s Barber Shop.
“Before the pandemic, many White House staff patronized Wall’s Barber Shop and Vice President Mike Pence was a frequent client. Pence sometimes jogged across the street for a quick trim and was well-liked among staff,” the Post reported.
“Pence is a really good guy, he actually should be president one day — smart and intelligent guy,” Wall’s owner Dale Simmons said.
“With the staff coming in and out of the barber shop, they may have felt that it was a perfect fit,” he added.
However, Simmons said he stands ready to give Biden a haircut and sounds like a bipartisan fellow.
“I’m ready to get back to work,” Simmons said.
Funny thing, that. It sounds like President Biden isn’t looking to go in that direction.
While Trump’s White House staff praised the decision to keep the shop open, they noted to the Post the hypocrisy of a president who expresses a hesitancy to reopen the nation but has no reluctance to keep the barber shop.
There’s no hypocrisy on Trump’s part. Keep in mind, he was railing against excessive lockdowns from the White House podium day after day. Biden, meanwhile, gave us his famous “Neanderthal thinking” quote when the state of Texas moved to full capacity at its businesses — including hair salons, previously capped at 75 percent.
And while that comment was about masks, Biden hasn’t made accelerating the reopening tops on his agenda. In other hypocrisies attributable to the current president, Trump White House staffers also pointed to his strict rules for press access to 1600 Pennsylvania, including limiting the number of pre-approved journalists to 80 a day and requiring them to take a rapid COVID-19 test — and, as the New York Post reported in February, paying $170 for it.
The White House briefing room gets a cleaning after a reporter tested positive this morning. pic.twitter.com/1GTshvUnq0
— Michael Wilner (@mawilner) February 24, 2021
White House Correspondents’ Association President Zeke Miller of The Associated Press said “[t]he White House has informed us that it has determined that budgetary constraints limit the government’s ability to provide the daily COVID-19 testing that the White House has required for journalists on campus.”
“The Biden presidency motto: do as I say, not as I do,” a Trump White House official said. “The fact that he will keep open the White House barber shop while shutting down the press covering him tells you everything you need to know about his gaslight governing.”
But this is how the Biden administration is. Remember George Orwell: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The Biden White House is perfectly happy with Neanderthal thinking, so long as they benefit.
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