California Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled two of his children from a summer basketball camp after pictures of his son not wearing a mask indoors circulated on social media.
"The Newsoms were concerned to see unvaccinated children unmasked indoors at a camp their children began attending yesterday," Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon told the Sacramento Bee in a statement Tuesday. "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."
An Instagram post of Newsom’s son not wearing a mask at a Sacramento-area basketball camp circulated Monday. State guidance currently calls for children as young as 2 and as old as 11 to wear masks in "youth settings," including day camps and youth sports, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Newsom’s son, Hunter, is 10 years old.
Reopen California Schools, a group that has vocally criticized Gov. Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in education and is suing the state over its policies for the fall, tweeted Tuesday that an email to parents from the camp said masking "will not be enforced."
The camp, run by Steve Buzzard, did not list masking or COVID-19 policies on its website. Photographs from the camp posted on Buzzard’s Instagram account show the vast majority of children not wearing masks, one of which was captioned saying campers ranged from the third to eighth grades.
Buzzard didn't respond to an email requesting comment from KCBS Radio before press time. A Newsom spokesperson also didn’t respond to a text message requesting comment.
Newsom, who was photographed without a mask last November at a Napa Valley restaurant in violation of the state’s COVID-19 policy at the time, faces a gubernatorial recall election on Sept. 14.
This month, the state issued guidance requiring all K-12 students to wear masks indoors during the upcoming school year, regardless of their vaccination status. Newsom and the state quickly faced criticism, deferring enforcement to local districts after the initial guidance said students who refuse to mask indoors wouldn’t be allowed on campuses.
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