CA Governor Gavin Newsom's claim of wearing mask at NFC match rebutted by Rams 'fan cam'
California Governor Gavin Newsom seems to have misled the general public when he claimed that he was wearing his face mask the whole time during the NFC championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, January 30. He also took a picture with the basketball legend Magic Johnson inside the indoor stadium during the match and confirmed that he only took off his mask for the photo and quashed all the allegations against him for not wearing a mask.
On Monday, California Governor Newsom briefed the media regarding the incident and assured them that he was following Covid protocols throughout the match and only took off his mask to have a "glass of water" and take a picture with Magic Johnson. But all these statements now seem to contradict a photo taken by the Rams 'fan cam' which shows the governor sitting down with his mask dangling from one ear.
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In the press conference, Governor Newsom had said, "The rest of the time I wore it as we all should – not when I had a glass of water [or anything], And I encourage everybody else to do so. I was trying to be gracious and I made a mis--, you know, I mean I was trying to be gracious and took the mask off for a brief second."
TV cameras captured a maskless California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom hugging Magic Johnson last night in violation of his own mask mandate.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 31, 2022
The video contradicts Newsom's assertion today that he only removed his mask "for a brief second" when he "took a photo." pic.twitter.com/kTOjBOlT0F
On Sunday, Johnson tweeted his photos with the governor and the picture clearly shows that none of them wore masks and around 90 per cent of the entire stadium was filled with fans without implementation of any Covid protocol. The mayors of other cities and leaders of political parties were also enjoying the game and none of them seem to have followed the plethora of regulations circulated by the state's health department.
He's straight up lying. Here's Gavin, mask hanging from ear, one suite over from Magic's. Found on the Rams Fancam. Source here: https://t.co/JXZvemTQuH pic.twitter.com/X3iApIdd0t
— Joe (@JoeScibelli) January 31, 2022
California had implemented a universal indoor mask mandate in December that was extended to run till February 15. And the leaders themselves were frivolous in their actions which irked the netizens who then commented on the photos after spotting the governor maskless amidst a huge crowd.
After Newsom was caught breaking California's mask mandate, many called out the governor, including the California Republican Party. In a mass email sent out by the party on Monday afternoon, it said, "Unfortunately, in just one picture, Newsom broke a plethora of rules, including his own. The state of California is currently subjected to his extended mask mandate. There is a mask mandate in LA county. And, in compliance with LA county, there is a mask requirement at SoFi Stadium."
On Monday, California reported a little more than 172,000 new Covid cases and 459 deaths. In total, California has had more than 7.8 million cases and nearly 79,300 deaths due to the virus. The overall graph of covid cases and mortality is rocketing with each passing day.