After hiding the newest polling showing California’s recall a dead heat, CBS on Thursday morning discovered that Democrat Gavin Newsom is a “target” for removal. But This Morning’s Anna Werner acted as a press agent for Newsom, defending him against the latest charge of maskless hypocrisy (while not mentioning he has a history of it).
Allowing a scant 53 seconds to the recall, Werner fretted, “California will require masks in schools this fall. It's proven to be a touchy issue for Governor Newsom who's the target of a September recall campaign.” The journalist quickly mentioned the latest black eye for the Democrat:
Just this week, a parent advocacy group that's suing Newsom’s administration over school masking results said they found a photo online of Newsom's son with other kids maskless, indoors, at a basketball summer camp. In a statement, the Governor's spokesperson said the Newsoms had missed an e-mail saying the camp would not enforce masking guidance and pulled their children out.
She then talked to the Governor, allowing him to righteously defend himself: “My son went to camp with his mask on, took it off for a photo, had it in his hand, and we pulled him out of the camp. You want to attack me, attack me. Don't attack my son.”
Werner completely skipped a key point, however: Newsome has a history of mask hypocrisy. In November of 2020, he went to a birthday party at the swanky restaurant The French Laundry. No one, including the governor, wore a mask. This hypocritical act sparked the recall now imperiling his governorship.
Discovering the bad news for Newsom, Werner allowed scant seconds to the poll finding those planning on voting yes on recall is now at 47 percent, just three points less than needed for removal. The journalist allowed the Democrat to reassure everything would be fine:
WERNER: A new poll found that likely voters were almost evenly split along party lines on whether to keep Newsom in office.
NEWSOM: We're going to defeat it. It's a partisan Republican-backed recall.
Republicans only make up a quarter of the California electorate. Democrats are 46 percent. So clearly, *some* independents support the recall as well.
The spin to save Newsom was sponsored by Jeep and JCPenny. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
A transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
7/29/2021
7:11 AM ET
ANNA WERNER: California will require masks in schools this fall. It's proven to be a touchy issue for Governor Newsom who's the target of a September recall campaign. Just this week, a parent advocacy group that's suing Newsom’s administration over school masking results said they found a photo on line of Newsom's son with other kids maskless, indoors, at a basketball summer camp. In a statement, the Governor's spokesperson said the Newsoms had missed an e-mail saying the camp would not enforce masking guidance and pulled their children out. But Newsom told us --
GAVIN NEWSOM: My son went to camp with his mask on, took it off for a photo, had it in his hand, and we pulled him out of the camp. You want to attack me, attack me. Don't attack my son.
WERNER: A new poll found that likely voters were almost evenly split along party lines on whether to keep Newsom in office.
NEWSOM: We're going to defeat it. It's a partisan Republican-backed recall.
