Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has found herself in hot water over the last few days regarding her city’s new mask mandate. Originally, Bowser delayed the mandate until the day after her birthday festivities, which included a night with comedian Dave Chappelle. Given the virus doesn’t care about birthdays, that seemed rather specious.

But things got worse when she officiated a wedding after the mandate went into place. Her team released a statement claiming she did not break any rules, but a picture of her mask-less, indoors says otherwise.

Dis her? pic.twitter.com/i0AT3gormx

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 1, 2021

I don’t see any food on those tables, nor do I see anyone drinking. Besides, as mayor, shouldn’t she be setting a proactive example anyway?

Well, according to CNN, no. In what can only be called a tortured coping session, John Berman and Brianna Keilar joined forced this morning to game things out and defend the mayor. At points, Berman seems almost distraught that Bowser is being criticized while Keilar plays the “well, who knows” role of keeping the conversation going.

CNN’s @JohnBerman & @Brianna
defend @MayorBowser violating her own mask mandate:

“She wasn’t actually, as far as we know, violating the new rules, correct?”

"It seems like it could be during the toast. Right?" pic.twitter.com/wJA2OoN91O

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 2, 2021

Actually, according to the photo I posted above, where no eating or drinking is taking place, it’s pretty clear she violated her own rules. Shouldn’t CNN anchors be able to ascertain that from the available evidence instead of playing dumb?

Past that, Berman’s argument is that people once criticized politicians for wearing masks when the science said they weren’t needed (and the science still says that) so how can you be mad at Bowser for not honoring her own mask mandate? Yes, that’s seriously his response to all this. Instead of noting the obvious hypocrisy and the fact that none of these mandates make any sense, Berman wants to blame unnamed media figures who once made fun of Joe Biden for wearing a mask outside after announcing masks were no longer needed. Because those are totally the same thing.

In short, Berman’s argument is clearly meant to deflect heat, not actually address the issue or hold everyone to the same standard. If this were a Republican, the response would be completely different. Bowser broke her own guidelines. If CNN actually thought masks were important, they’d be lambasting her, not defending her. But partisanship is a heck of a drug, and to go after Bowser would be to go after one of their own.

Thus, you end up with the comedic struggle session in that video.