Florida state legislator wants Mar-a-Lago fined, closed after ‘potential super-spreader party’

Florida state Rep. Omari Hardy (D) called for shuttering Mar-a-Lago after videos of a New Year’s Eve party at President Trump’s private club appeared to show dozens of attendees celebrating without masks.

“My constituents are not snowbirds like @DonaldJTrumpJr & @kimguilfoyle. My constituents live here,” Hardy wrote in a Twitter post Saturday. “This is their home, and they’re going to have to deal w/ the consequences of a potential super-spreader party at Mar-a-Lago long after Junior & wife leave here on their private jet.”

My constituents are not snowbirds like @DonaldJTrumpJr & @kimguilfoyle. My constituents live here. This is their home, and they’re going to have to deal w/ the consequences of a potential super-spreader party at Mar-a-Lago long after Junior & wife leave here on their private jet. pic.twitter.com/kt6SXErYG2

— Rep. Omari Hardy (@OmariJHardy) January 2, 2021

Local NBC-affiliate WPTV reported that Hardy sent a letter to Assistant County Administrator Todd Bonlarron asking that the club be fined and shut down for violating a county mask mandate.

In his letter, Hardy said the gathering had the potential to be a “super-spreader event.”

“I recognize that the President is a powerful person and that his business, Mar-a-Lago, is a daunting target for enforcement, but the law is the law,” Hardy wrote.

“The County’s mask mandate applies to all businesses in Palm Beach County. The presidency does not confer to the President and his friends a special privilege to endanger the health and welfare of Palm Beach County’s residents.” 

.@DWUhlfelderLaw, I just sent the attached email to our Assistant County Administrator. We can’t have a mandate that we enforce on all business owners except for the President. Fairness dictates that we treat the President and his business just as we would treat anyone else. pic.twitter.com/CTQkwYZKE2

— Rep. Omari Hardy (@OmariJHardy) January 1, 2021

Trump was not in attendance at the party, though his two adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as well as his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were there as guests. The president had reportedly planned to be at the club for New Year’s Eve but returned to Washington, D.C., ahead of the Jan. 6 certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory in Congress.

Florida is one of only three states that has surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases, with almost 22,000 deaths from the disease.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has maintained a relatively hands-off approach to the pandemic, even as cases surge. Early in December, DeSantis issued an executive order that limited the ability of local governments to impose COVID-19 restrictions and fines.