Most Americans have moved on from COVID, but don't tell that to Kamala Harris. The vice president is facing fresh backlash after sharing a photo she took with a little girl in a mask. 

The vice president captioned the photo, which was taken in July 2021, with a feel-good message about empowerment.

"My message to Black women and girls everywhere: Never ask for permission to lead,” Harris wrote in the post.

COVID hypocrite

Other Democrats, such as Stacey Abrams, have come under fire in the past for similar photos with masked children.

Although the photo Harris shared isn't new, the post brought renewed criticism of the Democratic party's hypocritical observance of COVID mandates.

"Just don’t ask for permission to breathe," one Twitter user quipped.

“You’re really forcing this child to wear a mask while you breathe freely. You’re a joke,” another wrote.

My message to Black women and girls everywhere: Never ask for permission to lead. pic.twitter.com/vimjDeItFG

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 19, 2023

Messaging failure

With her awkward choice in photo, Harris appeared to step on President Biden's message that, thanks to him, COVID "no longer controls our lives."

"While the virus is not gone, thanks to the resilience of the American people, we have broken COVID’s grip on us," Biden said recently.

Harris' photo was taken in July 2021, when the Biden administration was still very much on a war footing against COVID -- and those who weren't on the same page as the government.

Biden would notoriously declare "patience" was "wearing thin" with Americans refusing to take the COVID vaccines, but Biden has since dropped his dark, divisive messaging as he prepares to end the public health emergency on May 11.

"Science!"

Many have criticized Biden's timing, questioning why he is delaying a decision he appears to have already made.

Despite the imminent end of the emergency, Harris was forcing children as young as two to take COVID tests in order to take photos with her as recently as January -- three years into the pandemic -- because, you know, "science."

At any rate, Harris should be credited for being unintentionally honest in her Twitter post.

The vacuous message about empowerment, paired with an image of child abuse perpetrated in the name of "science" -- could one ask for a better snapshot of what the Democratic party has become?