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Newsom’s office tried to play down his transgression by claiming that the dinner party took place outside, and that public-health guidelines were followed. Pictures have surfaced, however, showing that the meal was served indoors. And despite requirements to maintain six feet of distance between households and to wear masks between bites of food, as California policy demands, the pictures show everyone seated closely and no one wearing a mask, including Governor Newsom.
People recoil at hypocrisy, but this represents something more serious. Newsom was not simply acting holier-than-thou, preaching one thing from the pulpit while doing the opposite behind closed doors. His was the hypocrisy of power; he has forced people, under penalty of law, to follow restrictions that he personally ignores. There have been real consequences to the lockdown in California: jobs lost, businesses ruined, children going without education, rising depression, mounting protests. And yet the effects of these regulations were apparently of no concern to the governor as he enjoyed a dinner costing $350 per person—excluding the $150 supplement if you choose Wagyu beef instead of lamb chops.