Gavin Newsom reveals Covid ‘regret’ as he teases 2028 presidential bid

Standing knee-deep in a Montana river while fishing with a TV news anchor, Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted “regret” that some of California’s COVID crackdowns went too far.

Newsom’s pandemic mea culpa arrived amid the term-limited Democra positioning himself for a potential 2028 presidential campaign — even though he told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he would stay out of the race if former Vice President Kamala Harris runs.

In the sprawling conversation, Newsom conceded that some of California’s most sweeping pandemic restrictions appear difficult to defend with the benefit of hindsight.

“The idea that we closed beaches was insane in hindsight,” Newsom said, adding the caveat that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis initially closed beaches in his state as public officials scrambled to understand the virus.

Newsom also acknowledged that California’s largest public school systems remained closed too long, pointing specifically to Los Angeles Unified School District.

“Obviously, the schools taking too long,” Newsom said. “A lot of districts were open, but the big ones weren’t. LA refused, and I regret that.”

Newsom was at the center of California’s pandemic response, issuing the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order in March 2020 and using emergency powers to impose sweeping restrictions on businesses and everyday activity. 

His administration later controlled the pace of reopening through a state-run tier system that tied restrictions to local COVID conditions, with most statewide limits remaining in place until California’s full reopening in June 2021.

California’s in-person classroom shutdowns stretched deep into the 2020–21 school year, with Newsom’s administration imposing statewide health rules that prevented campuses in harder-hit counties from reopening for in-person instruction, though individual districts retained substantial control over reopening decisions.

Remote learning became one of the most controversial parts of California’s pandemic response, particularly for low-income students, students with disabilities and others whom Newsom’s own administration acknowledged were disproportionately harmed by distance learning.

Math and reading scores took a steep dive during COVID and have yet to fully recover, state data shows.

The governor also addressed his infamous dinner at the French Laundry, an exclusive Michelin-starred restaurant in Napa Valley, in November 2020 at the height of Covid lockdowns. Newsom attended a lobbyist friend’s birthday gathering while urging Californians to avoid mixing with people outside their households.

“Just boneheaded decision, just stupid decision,” Newsom said.

Newsom’s restrictions later helped fuel a Republican-backed effort to remove him from office, although he soundly defeated the September 2021 recall.

“I got recalled. I mean, I almost lost,” Newsom said. “You know, talk about humility. Come on.”

Anne Dunsmore, the former head of Rescue California, which helped spearhead the 2021 recall campaign against Newsom, said the governor’s pandemic regrets failed to address the staggering fiscal consequences of his decisions.

“As a human, I’m glad to see that he’s recognizing major mistakes and a serious lack of judgment in how he handled COVID,” Dunsmore said.

But she argued that Newsom had yet to reckon with the billions lost to unemployment fraud and what she described as lasting damage to California’s finances.

“What isn’t being talked about, and what he has still refused to do, is admit that those bad decisions resulted in a fiscal nightmare for the state,” Dunsmore said. “He will never say, ‘I wasted billions on ATM cards,’ or whatever that mess was.”

California’s unemployment system was overwhelmed during the pandemic, paying out tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent or otherwise improper claims — many through state-issued debit cards.

“He wasted billions of dollars on fraudulent enterprises and continued to increase budgets instead of looking at whether his shops were being run effectively,” Dunsmore said. “He has left us in a financial wasteland.”

Matt Klink, a Los Angeles-based political consultant, accused Newsom of attempting to soften his pandemic record with another presidential election approaching.

“Many Democrat governors, Newsom and [former New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, in particular, who implemented radical COVID restrictions, are trying to equivocate and justify their draconian measures,” Klink said.

He pointed to restrictions on beaches and churches that coincided with liquor stores remaining open and large public protests continuing across California.

“Democrats realize that the latest news out of Washington, D.C. and the disclosures from Anthony Fauci’s diary shattered the many COVID myths that Democrats, the [Joe] Biden Administration and government pressure applied to social media companies spread,” Klink said.

“Newsom was so absolute in his statements during COVID — ‘two weeks to bend the curve’ and other harmful measures. He is trying to skirt accountability and rewrite history for a possible 2028 presidential campaign,” Klink added.

Newsom portrayed his admissions as part of a broader effort to confront past mistakes, saying political leaders must “own those excesses” and continue “trying to be better and do better.”

George Andrews, communications director for the California State Assembly Republican Caucus, scoffed at Newsom finally coming around to concerns that millions of people in the state raised years earlier.

“Californians were telling Newsom these restrictions went too far while he was imposing them,” Andrews said. “Now that 2028 is on the horizon, he seems to agree. Better late than never. Welcome to the party, governor.”

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