‘Rules for thee but not for me’: Another politician flouts mandate
Yet another politician has flouted his own mask mandate while imposing them on his constituents.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom was recently seen unmasked at the indoor SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the NFC Championship game. The governor, who was attending the match between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, took a photo with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Johnson posted the photo to his Instagram account, showing an unmasked Governor Newsom.
Newsom had decreed an indoor mask mandate in December for the entire state of California. The mandate has been extended until February 14.
When Newsom was asked about it by reporters on Monday, the politician simply lied. “I was very judicious yesterday, very judicious, and you’ll see the photo that I did take, where Magic was kind enough, generous enough to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand is the mask and I took the photo,” Newsom said. “The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should, [except] when I had a glass of water, or anything, and I encourage everybody else to do so. And that’s it.”
“I was trying to be gracious,” he said to another reporter. “I took the mask off for a brief second. But I encourage people to continue to wear them.”
But as social media users pointed out, it wasn’t for a brief second and that wasn’t the only photo.
Clay Travis uploaded a clip from the Bud Light fan cam showing Newsom enjoying the game without a mask.
Fadde Mikhail, Republican congressional candidate, tweeted this:
“FYI…I was two boxes down from Gov. @GavinNewsom. Not once, was he wearing a mask. IF our governor doesn’t wear a mask in a stadium with 80K in it, why the hell should anyone be wearing a mask. #CA26 #ImRunning for you.”
Social media erupted in outrage, pointing out that while Newsom was rubbing elbows with celebrities, small children are being forced to wear masks eight hours a day in school.
This isn’t the first time Newsom broke his own rules while forcing his citizens to keep them.
In November 2020, Newsom was seen at a birthday party at swanky Napa Valley restaurant French Laundry with at least 12 other people, despite Newsom’s mandate forbidding any gatherings of “more than three households".
It was that photo that sparked a recall effort to oust Newsom, an effort that narrowly failed.
Newsom is far from the only politician to party while the peasants obey his decree. Other such figures include Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was seen unmasked even as New York forces 2-year-old children to wear masks; President Joe Biden; First Lady Jill Biden; L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti; Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot; San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and many others.
