A week after abruptly canceling plans to attend the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has receded from public view to deal with unspecific family obligations.
When the surprising announcement was made Oct. 29, a spokesperson said Newsom planned to participate virtually in the conference this week. But the California delegation’s schedule at the meeting this week, released by the governor’s office, did not include Newsom.
Instead, the schedule included in-person appearances by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who Newsom tapped to lead the state delegation in his absence; Sam Aseffa, director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research; David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission and California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot.
After the federal government late Tuesday authorized Pfzier’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use for kids 5 to 11, California implemented what state officials deemed a “robust vaccination program.” It’s the kind of announcement that Newsom typically makes in-person in front of TV cameras.
But the governor’s office announced the plan with an emailed news release. His last public appearance was Oct. 27, when he received a coronavirus booster shot.
ALERT 🚨 California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s last public appearance was Oct 27th, when he received a vaccine booster shot. It’s been more than 10 days since Gov. Newsom has been seen by the public – unusual for the governor who did daily Coronavirus updates for nearly 18 months
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 7, 2021
Newsom’s office did not respond to questions Friday about what the governor has been doing this week.
Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said the governor will appear virtually at the U.N. conference next week.
The statement claimed that Newsom would attend the summit virtually, though he still has not made a video appearance. California’s lieutenant governor led the delegation in his place. No further information on the ‘family obligations’ that caused the sudden alteration to his schedule has been shared.
Since then, Newsom has been seen only in prerecorded video statements, and in family Halloween photos posted on Monday, in costume as a pirate with his wife and four young children.
Here are the last images from Newsom:
His Spokeswoman Finally Decided To Respond To The Allegations
‘The governor has been working from the Capitol this week,’ a spokeswoman for Newsom told DailyMail.com on Saturday, dismissing any suggestion that the COP26 cancellation was connected to Newsom’s booster shot as ‘misinformation!
However, Democrats close to Newsom say he ‘desperately wanted to go to COP26, the premiere global summit on climate change attended by elite leaders from around the world, and no real reason was presented to the public about why he would miss this chance!
