California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a surprise admission over the weekend when he expressed regret about the public restrictions imposed by his administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The admission came as Newsom was pressed by host Chuck Todd in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press to explain why he let some sectors, like the motion picture industry, continue operations but “didn’t allow people to grieve together at funerals or at churches.”
At first, he deflected the blame.
“It was hardly ‘I,’ it was ‘we,’ collectively,” Newsom said in his own defense before adding, “I think all of us, in terms of our collective wisdom, we’ve evolved. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We’re experts in hindsight. We’re all geniuses now.”
When pressed by Todd on what he would have done differently, Newsom responded, “I think we would’ve done everything differently.”
Todd described the appearance of a double standard in the state’s treatment of the entertainment sector versus the religious sector, suggesting that the governor “didn’t prioritize … ones whose values you didn’t connect with.”
Meanwhile, a statement released by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents the five major film studios, in April 2020 highlighted the services it provided during the pandemic, particularly in disseminating the government’s COVID-19-related messaging.
“MPA member studios and others in the industry have lent their voices and resources to communicate critical public health messages during the pandemic … running Public Service Ads in coordination with the Ad Council and the U.S. government. Numerous shows, networks, and individuals have contributed to PSAs, informational videos, online ads, and social posts on a range of issues related to the COVID-19 response, including social distancing, mental health, hygiene, and community spirit.”
Critics of Newsom’s handling of the health emergency took to social media to question the California governor’s sincerity and motivations for what they viewed as a half-hearted mea culpa.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) was quick to dispute the implication by Newsom that his administration followed the best course of action with the information they had. Kiley pointed out that every other state had less restrictive measures in place, and he cited the consequences that Californians suffered as a result of Newsom’s alleged misguidance:
“Newsom is now admitting he botched California’s COVID response. But this is not, as he claims, a matter of ‘hindsight’ being 20/20. We fought back against his disastrous decisions at the time because they so clearly ran afoul of science, common sense, and the basic precepts of a free society.
“Newsom now says ‘we didn’t know what we didn’t know.’ But all 49 other Governors knew better. California was the single worst state in every way: the most onerous school shutdowns, business shutdowns, and church shutdowns; the most draconian mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and vaccine passports; the most complete collapse of checks and balances, personal liberties, and self-government.
“Despite all of this – despite the incalculable damage he did to our young people, our businesses, and our democratic institutions in the name of ‘public health’ – California wound up with an excess mortality rate exceeding the national average, even though we had the benefit of a relatively young population.”
However, Bioinformatics CRO, a biomedical computational company, crunched data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and concluded that when adjusted for age, California ranked 38th out of 52 states and territories for COVID-19 deaths, while the highest rates were found in states presumed to be under lesser pandemic restrictions, including Mississippi (1), Oklahoma (2), Kentucky (3), Tennessee (4), and Texas (5).
The Dallas Express reached out to Newsom’s office for comment and received a response from Alex Stack, deputy communications director for the California governor’s office, who said there was nothing more to add to the interview.