NYC Mom Fired After Questioning Toddler Mask Mandate, Clay Calls It A ‘Travesty Of Science’

A New York City employee was fired from her job just hours after her former employer claims she posed as a reporter and questioned New York City Mayor Eric Adams about his decision not to "unmask our toddlers."

Daniela Jampel was terminated from her role with the New York City Law Department, an agency spokesperson to Fox News. The outlet reports that records showed she had worked for the department for years as assistant corporation counsel.

Jampel attended Adams' Monday press conference and said: "Three weeks ago you told parents to trust you, that you would unmask our toddlers. Ten days ago you stood right here and you said that the masks would come off on April 4th. That has not happened, you reneged on your promise."

Adams said on March 22 that he stands with New York City parents and announced that if COVID-19 numbers "continue to show a low level of risk, masks will be optional for 2–4-year olds in school and daycare, starting on April 4."

Jampel noted that the Adams administration managed to stay a court order on Friday that would have blocked the toddler mask mandate. The New York Post reports that as Jampel attempted to ask why, City Hall staffers tried to cut her off when they realized she wasn’t a reporter, but the mayor allowed her to continue.

“So my questions are, what is the irreparable harm to children aged 2 to 4 take off their masks, just as they do in Long Island, just as they do in Westchester?” Jampel asked. “When will you—and when will you unmask our toddlers?”

OutKick founder Clay Travis said during Tuesday's OutKick the Show that this is a travesty of science, justice, and facts.

"It needs to be called out," Travis said. "Credit to Daniela Jampel for speaking out here, even though speaking out cost her her job."

While students in kindergarten through twelfth grade can come to school without masks in New York City, a mandate has remained in place for children ages 2-4, because no Covid vaccines are approved for children under age 5, Yahoo reports.

A Staten Island judge blocked the mandate on Friday, calling it “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,” but an appeals court stayed that order after the Adams administration contested it.

While Adams said initially that he would rescind the mandate on April 4, he responded to Jampel's question with: "I also stated if we see an uptick” in COVID cases, “we will come back and make the announcement of what we’re going to do."

The Post reports that Jampel was fired Monday, about an hour after the press conference, but her employer told the outlet the decision was made prior to the event.

"We hold all of our employees to the highest professional standards. In public statements, Ms. Jampel has made troubling claims about her work for the city Law Department. Based on those statements, the decision had been made to terminate her prior to today," the spokesman said, per The Post. 

"Today’s events, however, which include her decision to lie to City Hall staff and state she was a journalist at a press conference, demonstrate a disturbing lack of judgment and integrity. As of today, she is no longer an employee of the Law Department."

Jampel told The Post in a statement, "I am retaining counsel and will not litigate in the press."