California governor pulls kids from summer camp with no mask requirement

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Tuesday he pulled his children out of a summer day camp that did not require kids to wear masks, a violation of state policy that Newsom’s spokeswoman said he and his wife missed when reviewing communication from the camp.

"The Newsoms were concerned to see unvaccinated children unmasked indoors at a camp their children began attending yesterday and after seeing this, removed the kids from the camp," Erin Mellon said in an email. "The family reviewed communication from the camp and realized that an email was missed saying the camp would not enforce masking guidance. Their kids will no longer be attending this camp."

Two of Newsom’s four children, ages 10 and 11, attended the day camp, Mellon said. Her statements came after Reopen California Schools, a group that promotes full school reopening without masks, tweeted Monday it had obtained photos of one of Newsom’s sons at the camp. The group cast it as another example of Newsom saying one thing and doing another, something that could further frustrate his critics and other voters as his Sept. 14 recall election looms.

Signatures in support of the recall spiked last November after he was caught dining maskless at the expensive French Laundry restaurant while telling Californians to avoid gatherings of more than three households. He also took heat from critics for sending his children to private school that adopted a hybrid learning schedule as most public school students remained in distance learning.

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The state’s masking rules require everyone, even vaccinated people, to wear masks in youth settings because children under 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated.

"We support this summer basketball camp’s approach of having each family determine their own masking situation," the Reopen California Schools account tweeted. "The real problem is Newsom’s own family having mask choice, while he forces a different policy on every other kid in California."

The group is run by Jonathan Zachreson, a parent who is supporting Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley in the recall.