A single photo persuaded bureaucrats to drop face mask mandates during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, Fox host Tucker Carlson reported.

In a Monday segment, Carlson explained mask mandates imposed in San Francisco amid the Spanish Flu scourge were dropped after a photo surfaced of city leaders flouting their own rules.

Similar to 2020, the California city shut down businesses, banned mass gatherings and implemented stay-at-home orders in attempts to stave off the illness.

In October 1918, the city implemented a mandatory face mask order, along with fines and jail time for offenders.

Much of the public was largely complacent and dutifully obeyed the orders, but some were not keen on being told what to do and the city responded with violence.

“The city of San Francisco took the rules so seriously that a city health agent shot a man who refused to wear a mask – he hit the two bystanders who happened to be standing behind the man,” Carlson explained.

“That seemed a bit much to some people, but many others went along with it. They were afraid of the virus. They wanted to do their part to stop it. Most of all, they trusted their leaders. If their leaders put a mandate in place, they assumed it was for a good reason and they wanted to help.”

However, once a photo surfaced showing San Francisco city officials packed into an arena with hundreds of people while attending a boxing match “bare-faced,” many people ditched the masks.

“A single picture changed everything. A photographer who happened to be attending a boxing match in SF snapped a shot of several high-ranking city officials – that would include the mayor of San Francisco, a member of congress, a senior health administrator – all sitting at event all completely unmasked.”

“The photograph went national. Americans were shocked to discover that the people making and enforcing the rules had no intention of following those rules,” Carlson stated.

“Within a short period, mask mandates across the country ended. It turns out the public was willing to endure inconvenience, but not hypocrisy.”

Carlson used the segment to segue to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent fundraiser in Napa this past weekend where she was seen mingling with several top-level Democrats, all of who were gathered unmasked.