The governor’s office originally said Newsom would not make the trip due to “family obligations,” and when reached for comment Monday, offered no additional details on why the governor backed out. In the time since, Newsom has held no press conferences or public appearances of any kind, which is uncommon for the usually highly visible governor.
In a statement provided to SFGATE Monday afternoon, Newsom press secretary Daniel Lopez said that the governor worked at the Capitol last week and will resume normal appearances sometime this week.
“Last week Governor Newsom worked in the Capitol with staff on urgent issues including COVID-19 vaccines for kids, boosters, ports, the forthcoming state budget and California’s continued economic recovery,” Lopez said. “He will have public events this week related to the economy and vaccines.”
In response to the growing speculation (fueled largely by a lack of transparency on the part of Newsom’s office), Newsom’s wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, tweeted over the weekend, “It’s funny how certain folks can’t handle truth. When someone cancels something, maybe they’re just in the office working; maybe in their free time they’re at home with their family, at their kids’ sports matches, or dining out with their wife. Please stop hating and get a life.”
She fired that tweet off on Sunday night, then deleted it not long after. On Monday, two California state senators — John Laird and Bob Hertzberg — who are in Scotland for the climate conference, also bristled at questions regarding Newsom’s absence.
“Look, they said it was a family issue,” Hertzberg said, according to Cal Matters’ Emily Hoeven. “There is no one in California who wanted to be at this conference more than Gavin Newsom. But we’re all human beings, man. I don’t think it’s appropriate to dig further into it.”
Laird added that the controversy is “overblown.”
Because Newsom received his COVID-19 booster shot in his last public appearance, some more conspiratorial-minded individuals on social media have used the governor’s absence to cast doubt on the safety of boosters. Twenty-one million Americans have received booster shots to date and there is broad consensus among health experts that boosters are safe and effective, with side effects similar to the second dose of the mRNA vaccines.
“The cancelation was not a result of his booster shot,” Lopez wrote in an email.
