Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., apparently didn't let a recall movement prevent him from violating his own public health restrictions for a second time.
Newsom has been accused of eating inside a restaurant in a county where indoor dining is not allowed, per The Epoch Times on Sunday.
On his TikTok account Saturday, Newsom posted a video featuring himself and comedian George Lopez educating Californians about checking their COVID-19 vaccine eligibility. The clip appeared to be taken inside a restaurant in Fresno, where restaurants and bars were ordered to cease indoor services.
Newsom previously had been caught breaking his own indoor dining ban in November, when he celebrated a birthday for a longtime aide at an up-scale French restaurant in Napa.
A spokesperson for the governor told Fox News he did not eat at the Fresno restaurant and was there to meet with the restaurant's owners who received a relief grant.
People on social media, however, noticed Newsom appeared to be before a table with food and drinks. He allegedly remained inside the restaurant for more than an hour.
A separate video posted to the Los Amigos restaurant's Facebook page appeared to show Lopez endorsing the restaurant's food.
After the incident in Napa, Newsom faced intense backlash that forced him to apologize and admit the dinner party was a "bad mistake."
"I should have stood up and drove back to my house," Newsom said at the time. "The spirit of what I'm preaching all the time was contradicted, and I've got to own that. And so I want to apologize to you, because I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice."
The Napa incident weakened public support for Newsom's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
A movement to recall the governor picked up steam, with organizers recently announcing they had collected more than 1.8 million signatures. Although signatures needed to be validated, that total was far more the 1.5 million required before Mar. 17 to force a recall election.
If a recall election were held, voters would face two questions: Should the governor be recalled? If so, who should replace him?
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