Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday expressed no regret over attending a birthday party in Napa with more than a dozen people while telling Californians to avoid large gatherings. According to Newsom, the only regret he has is sitting at a table with too many people.
"It's been observed that the recall petition had only around 50,000 signatures until you infamously attended that dinner with multiple other households at that fancy restaurant, the French Laundry, a birthday party for a lobbyist, no less, all while you were telling Californians that they should be staying at home," CNN's Jake Tapper said. "So about 50,000 to 55,000 signature before you had that dinner then a month later that 50,000 [signatures] had become something like 500,000."
The CNN host went on to ask Newsom what he was thinking when he made the decision to show up to the French Laundry.
"Well, a friend of over a quarter of a century. He was having his 50th birthday. Restaurants were open in the state. I wasn't suggesting that people should not eat," the governor explained.
Newsom said he has admitted that his "mistake" was sitting at a table that had too many people.
"So you don't regret going to the dinner, you regret that there were too many people at the table, like you would have gone if it had been six people or something, or four people?" a puzzled Tapper asked.
"Restaurants in the vast majority of the state were open," Newsom replied, clearly taken back by the question. "It's neither here nor there and I should have gotten up and left when I sat down at that table and there were too many people at the table. And that was inconsistent with what I was expressing."
The governor said he's "made it crystal clear" that this is the only "mistake" like this that has had made.
"We're human. We have to move on and I'm moving on," Newsom said, shifting the focus to reopening schools throughout the state.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he is “absolutely” taking recall efforts against him seriously. He adds, “This is the sixth...recall effort in just 25 months since I've been governor. This one appears because they got an extension from a judge to have the requisite signatures.” pic.twitter.com/n2Jqjc6xv4
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 16, 2021
This is a prime example of how Newsom is out of touch with his constituents and the people he's supposed to represent. If he wants people to follow the guidelines that he establishes, he needs to follow them himself. He can blame Republicans for this recall petition but he needs to take responsibility and realize it was his hypocrisy that landed him in this predicament. Shutting down the state for a year and keeping kids on remote learning instead of reopening the schools didn't help his case. Small businesses throughout the state are shattered and people across the political spectrum are tired of rules for thee but not for me.
People would be willing to "move on" if they believed he was actually sorry for his so-called "mistake" and learned from it. But this is an example of typical political lip service.