Where is Gavin Newsom?

California governor Gavin Newsom has not been seen in public since Oct. 27, when the Thomas Keller fan appeared in a grey V-neck to get his COVID booster shot. Two days later, he abruptly cancelled his plans to appear at the United Nations climate summit, aka “COP26,” citing “family obligations.” According to ABC7, a spokesperson later said Newsom would attend virtually. But he never appeared on the schedule last week. What obligations preclude a man from hopping on Zoom?

Newsom clearly has computer access — he tweeted an election day booster message for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and failed Virginia candidate Terry McAuliffe, and retweeted several messages about Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate. He also posted an Instagram with his kids on Halloween. They were dressed as pirates. Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, also has internet access. Sunday night, she tweeted and deleted a post that apparently subtweeted Newsom’s critics. “It’s funny how certain folks can’t handle the truth,” she wrote. That is hilarious. I wonder what the truth is in this particular instance.

It’s an eyebrow raising time for Newsom to bow out of climate conversations. He had been slated to speak at the conference about ending global reliance on oil. But just weeks before, an off-shore leak sent at least 25,000 gallons of crude oil onto the coast near Huntington Beach, CA, forcing “Surf City, USA” to close its waterfront and bar fishing. Good thing Gavin has pledged to halt new oil and gas leases on public lands and offshore. Ah shit, nevermind — he’s actually signed almost 10,000 oil and gas drilling permits since taking office in 2019. If he doesn’t cancel again, the Gov. may hop in the COP26 chat later this week, a spokesperson said. Stay tuned.