California Governor Newsom doesn’t seem to know – or follow – the phrase “practice what you preach.”
The Golden State governor apologized Monday for what he called “a bad mistake” after attending a birthday party that broke the rules he himself put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Newsom and his wife attended a party on November 6 with a dozen friends at the French Laundry, a restaurant in Napa.
He said that as soon as he sat down at the outdoor gathering, he realized that the group was larger than he anticipated, all gathered to celebrate the 50th birthday of Jason Kinney, a political adviser that he’s known for 20 years.
“I made a bad mistake,” Newsom said. “I should have stood up and drove back to my house.”
No kidding!
“The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted, and I gotta own that” he continued. “I need to preach and practice, not just preach.”
This blunder comes amid California’s major spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. Cases have doubled in the state over the last 10 days, as 41 of the 58 counties are now classified as “purple,” the tier of COVID-19 related spread requiring the strictest lockdown guidelines.
#COVID19 update:
– Average daily tests: 164,345
– Average test positivity rate: 4.6%
– Daily case average: 8,198
– Hospitalizations: 48% increase over last 2 weeks
– ICU: 39% increase over last 2 weeks
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 16, 2020
Newsom said that he is even considering implementing a statewide curfew.
“We also are considering – full disclosure and a little bit of a preview – the notion of a curfew,” Newsom said in a press conference. “Before you jump in terms of your mindset of whether that’s a good idea or a bad idea, we are assessing that as well.”
