CALIFORNIA—Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, and San Francisco Mayor, London Breed are under scrutiny for violating Newsom’s statewide mask mandate while attending the National Championship game at Sofi Stadium on Sunday, January 30.
Hanging out at SoFi Stadium today! pic.twitter.com/XfotiRLGz9
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 31, 2022
Magic Johnson posted pictures on Twitter of himself posing with California’s government officials. They were all unmasked as they greeted each other at their box office seats at the NFC game with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Los Angeles Rams.
Magic Johnson and Governor Newsom were filmed embracing one another. Neither were masked nor were the people in the background around them.
TV cameras captured a maskless California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom hugging Magic Johnson last night in violation of his own mask mandate.
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
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 31, 2022
A commenter on social media pointed out that very few people at the game were masked. Still, another commenter reminded that the Superbowl is also coming to California, and predicted that ”Newsom would not be masked.”
On Wednesday, January 5, Health and Human Services Secretary, Mark Ghaly, announced that the indoor mask mandate would be extended in the state of California until February 15.
The mandate went back into effect on December 15, 2021, and was expected to expire on January 15, 2022.
Los Angeles County was under a separate mask mandate requiring a medical-grade K95 or KN95 mask to be worn by employers beginning on January 17, to protect from the spread of the Omicron variant.
Sofi Stadium has strict COVID=19 regulations listed on its website.
California has kept one of the strictest COVID-19 regulations since the onset of the coronavirus. Lockdowns caused many businesses to close their doors forever. Some business owners reportedly moved out of state to avoid the shutdowns.
This is not the first incident where Governor Gavin Newsom was seen publicly unmasked after announcing state-wide regulations. Newsom was under scrutiny in November 2020 after being photographed while he dined with several friends at The French Laundry.
Critics flooded social media with comments regarding their maskless officials at the NFL game. “Masks for thee, but not for me,” one commenter tweeted.
