‘I was very judicious.’ Gavin Newsom admits to briefly removing mask for a photo during NFL game
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday acknowledged that he briefly posed maskless for a picture during Sunday’s NFC championship football game.
“I was very judicious yesterday. Very judicious. And you’ll see in the photo that I did take, where Magic was kind enough, generous enough to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand’s the mask and I took a photo. The rest of the time, I wore it as we all should. Not when I had a glass of water or a thing. And I encourage everybody else to do so. And that’s it,” Newsom said during a Monday morning press conference.
In a photograph posted to Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s Twitter account during Sunday’s NFC championship football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, Newsom is seen next to Johnson, smiling and posing for the camera while unmasked.
Other photos showed San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, also maskless.
According to the rules for Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, where the game was held, masks must be worn at all times regardless of vaccination status, unless a person is eating or drinking.
Newsom was blasted by Republican critics for the picture.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson wrote on Twitter, “Quite the message for @GavinNewsom to send to California parents, that they still must send their children to school in masks while he ignores his rules and gets to watch some football mask free. #RulesForThee. In related news, are we done with your state of emergency now?”
Hallie Balch, California director of communications for the Republican National Committee, wrote in a statement that the lack of respect Democrats have for California citizens “is appalling.”
“California Democrats are hypocrites. When it comes to their own enjoyment, they violate state mandates as well as stadium mandates, which shows that they firmly believe their own rules don’t apply to them,” Balch said in a statement.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 11:06 AM.