Newsom's Selective 'Regrets' on COVID Policy Are Self-Serving and Incomplete
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Gavin Newsom’s Pandemic Regrets Tour | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." September 25, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that Gavin Newsom is now claiming to regret his COVID policies, but he's cherry-picking which mistakes to admit while conveniently leaving out the really bad stuff—like a shady $1 billion mask deal with a Chinese company and a $30 billion fraud scandal. The author suggests this is all just political theater timed to boost Newsom's future presidential chances, not real accountability.
Conclusion
Gavin Newsom's recent public expressions of regret about his pandemic-era policies are disingenuous, politically motivated (ahead of 2028 speculation), and selectively omit his most damaging and scandalous decisions.
Premises
- Newsom misrepresented the 2021 recall election results to Jake Tapper, claiming he 'almost lost' when he actually won by the same 61.9% margin as his original 2018 election victory.
- Newsom now calls closing beaches 'insane in hindsight,' but at the time he enforced draconian measures including beach closures, arresting a paddleboarder, and shutting down bike paths and bathrooms.
- Newsom blames LAUSD for delayed school reopening and says he 'regrets' it, despite having actively enforced strict lockdown policies himself at the time with no public reservations.
- Newsom's COVID guidelines required households to report attendee names and contact information for contact tracing, effectively turning citizens into government informants.
- Newsom publicly mocked mask compliance (telling people to keep masks on 'between bites') while privately violating his own rules by attending an unmasked dinner at the French Laundry with lobbyists.
- Newsom's list of regrets conspicuously omits the secretive $1 billion mask deal with Chinese company BYD (which didn't manufacture protective gear) and the $30 billion unemployment fraud scandal that occurred under his administration.
- This selective memory and regret narrative conveniently emerges as Newsom faces 2028 presidential speculation, suggesting political calculation rather than genuine reflection.
Assumptions
- Public figures should be held accountable for revising their historical narrative to suit political ambitions.
- Selective omission of major scandals (mask deal, unemployment fraud) from a list of 'regrets' constitutes intentional dishonesty rather than mere oversight.
- The timing of Newsom's regret expressions is causally linked to his 2028 presidential ambitions rather than genuine policy reflection.
- Voters and journalists should scrutinize and remember the specifics of pandemic-era governance rather than accept simplified retrospective narratives.
- The severity of Newsom's original COVID policies (surveillance-like reporting, arrests, mask mandates) was excessive and unjustified, making his current partial regrets insufficient.