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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom generated fierce online backlash after admitting the state’s decision to close beaches amid the COVID-19 pandemic was “insane in hindsight” during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper released this month.
“Look, everyone’s a genius in hindsight, so, you know, coulda, woulda,” Newsom told Tapper while fly fishing in a Montana river.
When asked what he would have done differently, Newsom said people initially treated the pandemic like a “Purell-based crisis,” spending too much time on hand sanitizer shortages and price gouging instead of the virus.
He added the beach closures are one of several decisions he regrets.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks on March 26, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage)
“The idea that we closed beaches was insane in hindsight,” he said, before adding that he also regrets that the state’s largest public school systems remained closed longer than they should have.
The clip ignited a social media firestorm, with conservatives and some Californians accusing Newsom of acknowledging mistakes they argued were obvious during the pandemic.
In a post on X, Republican former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt wrote, “No, Gavin. It was insane then . We all told you it was insane then. You knew it was insane then. You’re just an insane person.”
“Remember when I sued you in both state and federal court to open the beaches of Orange County that you maliciously closed, and you lifted the order so as to moot our cases before the hearings?” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted on X. “You knew it back then too, Governor.”
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Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 14, 2020, as frontline workers begin receiving the vaccine. (Jae C. Hong-Pool/Getty Images)
“Gavin Newsom had a man arrested for paddleboarding alone because apparently that put him at risk of getting COVID,” Benny Johnson, host of “The Benny Show,” posted on X. “He filled skate parks with sand, forced masks on your kids, made you show a vaccine card to go anywhere in public. Now he admits it was ‘insane’ six years later because he thinks he’s going to be president. America hasn’t forgotten.”
“You are a sea captain who ran his tanker into the rocks, and now we can have a laugh as you explain that you didn’t know anything back then and that now you would like to be in charge of the fleet,” Comedian Adam Carolla posted on X.
“Not just in hindsight!” Fox News political analyst Guy Benson posted on X.
“What was insane was closing beach parking lots but allowing — even permitting — BLM protests in the same parking lots,” RealClearPolitics political correspondent Susan Crabtree posted on X. “It was also insane to see state beaches closed but city beaches right next door open and crammed with people. I’ll never forget that one.”
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Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and medical advisor to several U.S. presidents, testifies under subpoena about his role in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, at a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
California became the first state to issue a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19, 2020, affecting nearly 40 million residents, and was among the last states to resume full-time, in-person learning.
Other restrictions included requiring masks, closing beaches and many businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, with the state threatening to cut funding to some cities that refused to enforce them. Newsom also attended an upscale dinner in November 2020 while imposing the restrictions, which many critics called hypocritical.
Fueled by frustration over his administration’s handling of the pandemic and its economic fallout, Newsom, who was elected in 2018, faced a recall election in 2021 but ultimately won.
Newsom’s admission comes as questions about COVID-era government decisions continue. In July, Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times when asked about the government’s response while testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the governor’s office for comment.