Florida Rep. Wants Mar-a-Lago Shut Down Or Fined Following NYE Party

A Florida state representative is urging officials to shut down or fine Mar-a-Lago after a New Year's Eve party at President Donald Trump's private Palm Beach club when footage suggests attendees violated coronavirus rules.

Video posted on social media showed dozens of maskless people, including the president's son Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, dancing to performances by Vanilla Ice and The Beach Boys at the party.

President Trump skipped the festivities and returned to Washington D.C. on Thursday, but those who did attend also included Eric and Lara Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Congressman Matt Gaetz.

It prompted State Rep. Omari Hardy, a Democrat representing West Palm Beach, to tweet on Friday: "Mar-a-Lago is a club. A club is a business. Businesses must abide by Palm Beach County's mask order, or be fined or even shut down. We knew that Trump was hosting a New Year's party."

.@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 2, 2021

Later on Friday, Hardy sent an email to assistant county administrator Todd Bonlarron questioning why officials were "not prepared to enforce" the county's mask mandate at Mar-a-Lago.

Hardy noted that it was common knowledge that the president hosts a New Year's Eve celebration at the club every year.

He urged officials to close down or fine the club for the violations, stating that the party had the potential to be "a super-spreader event."

"We cannot allow businesses and business owners to openly flout our mask order," he wrote. "This kind of open noncompliance endangers the public health and encourages more noncompliance, which in turn, further endangers the public health."

Hardy added: "I recognize that the President is a powerful person and that his business, Mar-a-Lago, is a daunting target for enforcement. But as far as I know, the law still applies to the President and to his business. The presidency does not confer on the President and his friends a special privilege to endanger the health and welfare of Palm Beach County's residents."

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

Hardy then asked Bonlarron if any action would be taken against Ma-a-Lago in relation to the mask order and whether officials would seek to shut down the club, should it be found that the mandate has been "consistently flouted" there.

Echoing a slogan often used by Trump, Hardy added: "We must have law and order here in Palm Beach County. What is fair for the average business owner is fair also for the owner of Mar-a-Lago."

Hardy continued his criticism in tweets posted at the weekend.

"If I can wear a mask at my own wedding, partygoers at Mar-a-Lago can wear a mask on New Year's Eve," he wrote in one tweet.

In another, he attacked the president's son. "My constituents are not snowbirds like @DonaldJTrumpJr & @kimguilfoyle," Hardy wrote, alongside a clip filmed by the president's son during the party.

"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."

Hardy, Bonlarron, the White House and the Trump Organization have been contacted for comment.