Where was Gov. Gavin Newsom? Here's what we know about his absence from public eye
Newsom was in San Francisco Saturday for the lavish wedding of a long-time family friend and Getty oil heiress Ivy Love Getty.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom's unusual disappearance from public view has the "Twitterverse" buzzing and Newsom's wife telling inquiring critics to "stop hating and get a life."
UPDATE: Gov. Newsom says he skipped climate conference to spend Halloween with his kids
Newsom was in Monterey Tuesday for a fireside chat at the California Economic Summit, making his first public appearance since he got his booster shot on Oct. 27.
Newsom touched on his personal life balancing family and work, which he describes "hell of a couple years for all of us," especially for all parents. When asked about the last nearly two weeks of his absence from public events including the long-planned trip to the UN climate conference in Scotland, Newsom said he spent time with his kids.
RELATED: Gov. Newsom says he skipped climate conference to spend Halloween with his kids
"They kind of had an intervention, they said they couldn't believe that I was gonna miss Halloween," he said. "And I woke up that next morning with something's probably familiar to a lot of parents that knot in your stomach that had no damn choice. I had to cancel that trip."
But prior to that, questions about the governor's whereabouts were swirling around social media. It started when the possible Presidential contender abruptly canceled a long-planned trip to the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Newsom cited unspecified "family obligations" as the reason for the last-minute stay-at-home decision, but gave no specifics.
Questions really started to bubble up after the governor who rarely goes a day without some type of media appearance went silent after receiving a highly touted COVID booster shot.
RELATED: Gov. Newsom remains out of public sight to deal with family obligations
Here's one of the tweets:
"Gavin Newsom has not been heard from since he had his booster shot 11 days ago. There is no way that he would keep people guessing if the shot made him sick, and therefore less likely to get one themselves unless that's exactly what happened.'
So what's going on?
According to ABC7 News Contributor Phil Matier's reliable sources, planning for Newsom's trip to Glasgow began more than a year ago when Donald Trump was still in the White House.
VIDEO: Newsom cancels trip to climate conference due to 'family obligations'
At the time, Newsom's presence was seen as a necessary presence on the world stage in an attempt to counter Trump's anti-climate change policies.
Former Governor Jerry Brown played the role in the early Trump years and by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger when George Bush was President.
But now Joe Biden is President and was scheduled to attend the conference representing the U.S., and Newsom was given a three-minute speaking spot.
Glasgow, Scotland, in October, is a long way to go for a four-day confab and a three-minute speaking spot and then an equally long flight back.
Newsom bowed out, and instead, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis led the delegation that included about a dozen legislators.
The governor's schedule, however, suddenly had a week of no public appearances.
RELATED: Gov. Newsom gets booster shot at Alameda County health clinic
And where has Newsom been since his booster shot on Oct. 27?
According to first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor has been a working dad which is likely the real "family obligation" he has been missing out on while successfully battling the September recall attempt.
"Funny how some people can't handle the truth. When someone cancels something, maybe they are in the office just working; maybe in their free time they are at home with their family, or at their kid's sports matches, or dining out with their wife. Please stop hating and get a life," Siebel Newsom said in a tweet that was quickly deleted.
Not that the governor has been home the whole time.
Newsom was front and center in San Francisco Saturday for the lavish wedding of a long-time family friend and Getty oil heiress Ivy Love Getty.
The wedding was officiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just back from her big infrastructure bill victory.
One might expect such a star-studded event to trigger a constellation of tweets from guests but alas they were all told to park their phones at the door, as Vogue had an exclusive on all wedding photographs.
As for Newsom, consider the brief silence a bit of a blessing. With 1.9 million followers on Twitter, Newsom still has a lot to say and he has never been shy about saying it when it suits him.
