Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) defended California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday for breaking “idiotic” coronavirus restrictions after he attended a now-controversial dinner party for one of his long-time aides.
“I rise this morning in defense for Governor Gavin Newsom, who recently defied his own idiotic COVID edicts as he partied at one of the few restaurants that’s not yet been forced out of business,” McClintock said in a floor speech on Thursday.
“I defend him because he was doing what we all once did in our free society: run what risks we’re willing to run and what precautions we’re willing to take according to our own circumstances to protect our own health,” McClintock continued.
Newsom apologized on Friday after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he and his wife attended a birthday party for his longtime adviser Jason Kinney. The governor had advised against such types of events over the course of the pandemic.
Photos of the party published by Fox 11 Los Angeles showed party guests eating inside the French Laundry restaurant, dispelling his claim that it was an outdoor event.
McClintock said that Newsom’s “night of partying” should be a “wakeup call for every American,” adding that people can use common sense to make decisions for themselves. He then blasted coronavirus restrictions from Newsom and the “lockdown leftists,” which he said have led to high mortality rates and deferred health screenings and treatments.
He also blasted Newsom’s Thanksgiving day guidelines, which advise families to have Thanksgiving dinner outside and that they last no longer than two hours.
“So let us not criticize Gov. Newsom. Perhaps he’s just offered us all deliverance from his own folly,” McClintock said. “The governor should make decisions about running his own life. I only ask that he and his ilk would stop telling the rest of us how to run ours.”
Republicans have opposed new coronavirus restrictions implemented to try to slow the spread of the virus at a time when the U.S. is facing a daunting spike in infections and hospitalizations.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said a lot of the guidelines were “Orwellian.”
“The American people know how to protect their health. We’ve dealt with COVID for many months,” she added. “But it’s Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say if you gather in numbers more than six we might come to your house and arrest you and you get 30 days of jail time. That’s not the American way.”