#California #Panic #FoodRuns #ToiletPaper
Photos have emerged of California governor Gavin Newsom dining in a semi-indoor Michelin star restaurant on November 6 with a group of 11 friends just days before advising Californians not to host indoor Thanksgiving dinners.
Newsom and his wife attended the birthday party at The French Laundry, a famous restaurant in Napa Valley, on November 6.
They are shown in photos, sitting at a round table without masks on. It was a 50th birthday party for Jason Kinney, one of Newsom's political advisers, and witnesses from the restaurant say that at one stage, the doors were closed so the group was completely inside.
Before the photos emerged, Newsom apologized for the outing, he should not have gone and should be setting a better example. He also claimed he did not know how many people would be there.
'I made a bad mistake. should have stood up and … drove back to my house. The spirit of what I’m preaching all the time was contradicted. I need to preach and practice, not just preach.
'You have to own it, and you have to be forthright and I’m doing my best every single day in trying to model better behavior,' he said.
A witness from his dinner told Fox11 Los Angeles: 'There was a very loud party going on in a room 20 feet from us.
'It got louder and louder and so [the staff] had some sliding glass doors that they were able to close, so then it was a closed-off room.'
'I happened to look over and realized, hey is that Gavin Newsom? I did ask one of the waitresses and she confirmed it was.
'Nobody was wearing a mask. It was a very large group of people shoulder to shoulder, something that he’s always telling us not to do so it was a bit annoying.'
Kinney's spokesman previously said the dinner was outdoors.
'This was a small, intimate, 12-person dinner held outdoors with family and a few close friends to celebrate a 50th birthday,' said Molly Weedn, a spokeswoman for Kinney.
'The restaurant was open for normal dining, consistent with state and county health guidance. All of the restaurant safety protocols were adhered to — and the guests followed those protocols.'
The room is closed on three sides and covered by a roof, with a large glass sliding door opening out into a courtyard at the front.
A door appears to have been pulled halfway across the room, and guests can be seen sitting in their coats.
Guests are clearly not wearing face masks - something that is recommended but not required while dining - and are sitting less than 6ft away from each-other.
California guidelines issued on October 9 and in place when the dinner took place on November 6 state: 'Gatherings may occur in outdoor spaces... provided that at least three sides of the space (or 75%) are open to the outdoors.
'Seating must provide at least 6 feet of distance (in all directions—front-to-back and side-to-side) between different households. Gatherings that include more than 3 households are prohibited.'
