Widespread anger over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s maskless night out at the French Laundry in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic should have been a lesson absorbed by politicians throughout California: People expect government officials to follow the rules they make.
Really, it’s nothing new that elected officials are held to a higher standard. After all, they are making decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods. But the feeling has become heightened during the pandemic, as officials at every level of government asked people to make personal sacrifices to control the spread of the virus, yet seemed to have a hard time doing the same.
So there was understandable outrage when Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed were photographed without masks during Sunday’s NFC championship game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The three Democrats have championed some of the nation’s most restrictive COVID-19 mitigation measures — good rules that have undoubtedly saved lives. Among those state and local rules are requirements that spectators mask up at events with large crowds, such as the football game — except when “actively eating or drinking.”
