Gov. Gavin Newsom has emerged from his two-week absence and his no-show at the United Nations climate summit in Scotland. During the regular press briefing on Tuesday, the California stateman said that he canceled his plans to be at the summit because of his children, who wanted him to be around for Halloween.
Following a lot of media speculations about his absences, Newsom told the press that it's his kids who "literally intervened" for him to stay home. The dad of four said that he woke up on the day of his trip to the summit with a "knot" in his stomach because he felt bad about missing out on Halloween with his kids.
"I had no damn choice, I had to cancel that trip," the governor said.
Newsom's cancellation, however, has sparked a rumor that something went bad with his booster shot in late October because he was suddenly incognito. His wife, Jennifer Newsom, also came under fire for tweeting against the governor's critics, who questioned his absences. The governor's wife has since deleted those tweets.
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Encourages Family Time
In the past, the California governor has spoken out about the importance of family time, especially during the lockdowns as mothers have to bear more responsibilities at home. Newsom told fathers that they have to spend time with their family, pick up the slack as well and deal with the pandemic together.
For Halloween, the Newsom family apparently dressed up as pirates as they went trick or treating. The governor also said that he spent his off days from work to watch his children's soccer tournaments and the kids went with their dad to Capitol.
Newsom has four kids all under the age of 13 -- Montana, 12, Hunter, 10, Brooklyn, 8, and Dutch William, 5. In mid-September, two of the children tested positive for COVID-19 and exhibited mild symptoms. They were not eligible to get vaccinated since the approval for jabs under 13 years old was not yet in at that time. According to the governor's office, the kids, who all attend a private school, were not exposed in school or during a political event.
According to Politico, the Newsom family has been exposed to COVID-19 three times prior to the positive test. Each time they were at risk, the kids had to be pulled out from school or camp to quarantine.
Beating the Recall Election
In September, Newsom beat his opponents in the recall elections and then went on to work on passing more mandates in California. He signed the bill to require large retailers to set up a gender-neutral kids' section and made his state a "reproductive freedom state" where people cannot film those coming in and out of abortion clinics for the purpose of intimidation and harassment.
Newsom is also the first U.S. governor to impose a vaccine mandate for children in schools effective January 2022. In a statement, the governor said that schools already have a vaccine mandate for diseases like mumps, measles and rubella, so they are adding COVID-19 to the list.
California has one of the lowest numbers of cases in the U.S. and the governor hopes to maintain this status as 95 percent of its school district will continue with in-person instruction.
