SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A week after abruptly canceling plans to attend the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has receded from public view to deal with unspecific family obligations.

When the surprising announcement was made Oct. 29, a spokesperson said Newsom planned to participate virtually in the conference this week. But the California delegation's schedule at the meeting this week, released by the governor's office, did not include Newsom.

Instead, the schedule included in-person appearances by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who Newsom tapped to lead the state delegation in his absence; Sam Aseffa, director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research; David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission and California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot.

After the federal government late Tuesday authorized Pfzier's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use for kids 5 to 11, California implemented what state officials deemed a "robust vaccination program." It's the kind of announcement that Newsom typically makes in-person in front of TV cameras.

But the governor's office announced the plan with an emailed news release. His last public appearance was Oct. 27, when he received a coronavirus booster shot.

More...

https://abc7.com/gavin-newsom-california-governor-newson-family-obligations-today/11202905/ 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday explained that he dropped his plans to travel to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland last week because his children begged him to stay with them for Halloween.

Newsom said his children staged "an intervention" and called for him to remain at home, according to Politico.

“I was ready to go, and I had that dinner — a lot of you know this dinner — with the family, and the kids literally, they kind of had an intervention, they said they couldn’t believe that I was going to miss Halloween,” Newsom reportedly said.

“I woke up that next morning with something probably familiar to a lot of parents, that knot in your stomach, that I had no damn choice. I had to cancel that trip,” he added.

Newsom, who has four children, did not publicly acknowledge his reason behind canceling his trip prior to Tuesday, Politico noted, adding that his office at the time cited only “family obligations."

More...

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/580875-newsom-says-he-canceled-climate-summit-plans-because-kids-wanted-him