Written by Urvi Sakurikar
In sports, an unforced error results from a player’s self-sabotage and can be the difference between a win or loss. Similarly, Governor Gavin Newsom is inadvertently contributing to his own recall effort with unforced errors of his own.
The effort to recall Governor Newsom did not start out very strong, but became a massive success after the infamous French Laundry incident.
In November 2020, Governor Newsom was photographed at a mask-less dinner party at the French Laundry, a very fancy and expensive restaurant, in direct violation of his own COVID-19 restrictions.
Since then, Newsom has shown his own hypocrisy over and over again and made it clear to Californians that he does not care about the issues they are facing, despite him being the cause of most of them.
Last week on CNN, in an attempt to connect with suffering parents, Gov. Newsom claimed that his household was facing struggles with Zoom school, even though all four of his children have been attending in-person school for months.
In addition to disappointing parents, Newsom has botched vaccine distribution in California by giving the responsibility to Blue Shield, a healthcare company that has an extensive history of contributing to his political campaigns.
As a result, many local public health officials refused to sign contracts and ended up contracting directly with the state.
If these incidents occurred in isolation from each other, they may not be the end of it for Newsom.
However, all of these events in conjunction with each other, as well as Newsom’s continued tone-deaf comments, have led to the recall campaign collecting well over the required number of signatures before the deadline.
In terms of reopening, vaccine distribution, and general recovery from the pandemic, California is one of the furthest behind in the nation; and Governor Newsom is to blame. From ignoring his own restrictions, to bending the rules for his own children’s benefit, to using the pandemic as a way to further his own agenda, he has let the people down too many times.
Governor Newsom still has the recall election as a last chance to salvage his career, but at this point, it does not seem likely that Californians will be able to forgive or forget his mistakes.
