Photos of Gov. Gavin Newsom dining in a French restaurant with people from other households and not wearing a mask appeared online after the Democratic governor received pushback earlier this week for breaking his own coronavirus protocols.
“EXCLUSIVE: We’ve obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he’s in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed,” Fox 11’s Bill Melugin tweeted, accompanied by the photos.
EXCLUSIVE: We’ve obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he’s in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed. 10pm on @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/gtOVEwa864
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 18, 2020
“We checked the metadata on the photos to confirm legitimacy. Taken at 11/6/2020 at 6:20pm with a location tag at The French Laundry. We interviewed the witness. We’ve also reached out to the Governor’s team for a response, and we got one,” Melugin added.
The dinner was in celebration of his political adviser Jason Kinney’s birthday.
Newsom was met with fierce pushback over the dinner, where meals cost $350 a person according to a menu from 2018, including from San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
“His kids can learn in person. But yours can’t,” Faulconer tweeted. “He can celebrate birthday parties. But you can’t. He can dine on a $350 meal at one of California’s fanciest restaurants during the worst recession in generations. But you definitely can’t. Can you believe this? I can’t.”
His kids can learn in person. But yours can’t.
He can celebrate birthday parties. But you can’t.
He can dine on a $350 meal at one California’s fanciest restaurants during the worst recession in generations. But you definitely can’t.
Can you believe this? I can’t. https://t.co/lmRBWh9rpS
— Kevin Faulconer (@Kevin_Faulconer) November 14, 2020
Newsom apologized for the dinner on Monday, saying he needs to “preach and practice.”
“I want to apologize to you because I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice, and I’ve done my best to do that,” Newsom said. “We’re all human. We all fall short sometimes.”
On the same day he apologized, the Democratic governor announced he was pushing the brakes on his reopening plan of the state and put 94% of California under the state’s most restrictive coronavirus guidelines.
