House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Wednesday that a San Francisco salon, where she received a blowout days earlier, had set her up for national embarrassment when it offered her an appointment. “I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to...many times,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was a set up, and I take responsibility for falling for a setup. I think that this salon owes me an apology for setting me up.” Fox News published security footage of Pelosi receiving a blowout at eSalon late Monday, and the owner, Erica Kious, who rents space in the salon to other stylists and did not do Pelosi’s hair, called the visit “a slap in the face.” The man who did style her hair, Jonathan DeNardo, said via a lawyer that Kious had approved the appointment beforehand during a phone call in which Kious also made “vitriolic and incendiary comments about Speaker Pelosi and her purported responsibility for temporarily suspending operations of Ms. Kious’ business.” He alleged that Kious has been operating her business in violation of shelter-in-place orders since April and conspired to set up Pelosi “for her own vain aspirations.”
Conservatives seized on the controversy surrounding the hair appointment. President Trump tweeted, “Crazy Nancy Pelosi is being decimated.” The San Francisco city government allowed salons to open for outdoor service Sept. 1, but indoor appointments are still banned to slow the spread of COVID-19. Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff said Tuesday, “The Speaker complied with the rules as presented to her by this business.”
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