That’s especially true for a governor claiming sole authority to control people’s lives through a ‘State of Emergency,’” tweeted Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who ran for governor in the recall election. “A governor’s absence is always a matter of public concern. That's what made his absence following his sudden withdrawal from the climate conference so curious. He relishes his role as leader of the nation's most populous state, which if it were its own country, would have the world's fifth-largest economy. Newsom routinely has multiple public appearances each week. On Monday, Newsom’s office said the governor had been working in the Capitol on “urgent issues, including COVID-19 vaccines for kids, boosters, ports, the forthcoming state budget and California’s continued economic recovery.” Neither the governor nor his representatives said why they didn’t offer details about Newsom's whereabouts before this week. “I think we should know what the governor is up to and give the governor space when he needs family time.
“I think this is an example of where the governor and his press operations need to be aware of social media and distortions and always being in front of the story,” he said. Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, said Newsom could have prevented much of the fuss if he had simply said at the outset why he wasn't attending the conference and taking a step back from public appearances. Newsom's comments earned applause from the audience and praise from his fellow Democrats in the state Legislature, many of whom blamed the governor's political opponents and the media for blowing the story out of proportion.Īssemblyman Ash Kalra tweeted that had Newsom attended the conference, he would have been criticized “for traveling overseas instead of staying home attending to the state.” “I had no damn choice I had to cancel that trip,” he said. Newsom said for his kids, who range in age from 5 to 12, missing Halloween is worse than missing Christmas.
They said they couldn’t believe that I was going to miss Halloween.” "The kids, literally, they kind of had an intervention. “I’ve been on this damn treadmill, we’ve gone from crisis to crisis,” Newsom said. Attending the conference would have given him the opportunity to tout his climate change initiatives, which include banning sales of new gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035 and raise his profile with world leaders.īut as the trip neared, his children took the initiative. Newsom beat back the recall in September and then spent the next several weeks considering hundreds of bills passed by the Legislature.Ĭlimate change is a signature issue for Newsom, who many believe has aspirations of running for president some day. Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, added to the intrigue on Sunday night with a since-deleted tweet telling people to “please stop hating and get a life.”īut Tuesday, Newsom said his absence was nothing more than a chance to recharge with his family after a frenetic three years in office that included an unprecedented pandemic, record-breaking destruction from wildfires, a drought and fighting for his political life in only the second gubernatorial recall election in state history. Paul Getty whose family members have been major donors to Newsom's campaigns.īy Monday, Newsom’s absence had prompted speculation about his health, mostly among conservatives on social media who rallied around the hashtag #wheresgavin. However, photos over the weekend published in Vogue showed Newsom attending the wedding of Ivy Love Getty, the granddaughter of the late billionaire oil tycoon J. His staff would not answer questions about where he was or what he was doing for much of that time. 27 when he got a coronavirus booster shot and then two days later his office issued a brief statement saying he was canceling his travel plans for unspecific “family obligations." Newsom's comments, delivered Tuesday at an economic summit in Monterey, came after increasing media coverage and criticism from Republicans about his whereabouts and what he was doing. Gavin Newsom said he chose to take his children trick or treating on Halloween instead of discussing climate change with world leaders in Scotland, explaining the decision to abruptly cancel his trip and then recede from public view for nearly two weeks was driven by the simple desire of a working parent to spend more time with his kids. Newsom, who has been absent from public life in nearly two weeks after canceling his planned trip to Scotland for the United Nation's climate conference, is expected to appear at the the 2021 California Economic Summit in Monterey, Tuesday Nov. Gavin Newsom speaks at Asian Health Services in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Oct.