California Governor Gavin Newsom pulls his kids from summer camp after his son, 10, was pictured maskless indoors in violation of his rules for kids ages two and older

Gavin Newsom ruled children must wear masks in schools and at summer camp
On Tuesday his son Hunter, 10, was pictured maskless at basketball camp
The governor's spokesman said the Newsoms 'were concerned to see unvaccinated children unmasked indoors'
The Newsom's children have now been withdrawn from summer camp
An email was sent by the organizer informing them masks would not be worn
Newsom said that the family 'missed the email'
The governor in November apologized for breaking his own rules by dining indoors with a large group, unmasked, at The French Laundry in the Napa Valley

Published: 04:53 BST, 28 July 2021 | Updated: 05:27 BST, 28 July 2021

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has withdrawn his children from their summer camps after photos emerged of his ten-year-old son indoors without a face mask - violating the state's coronavirus rules.

Newsom on July 9 ruled that children in California must still wear face masks at school and at summer camps, despite the CDC changing its rules to say that face masks were no longer necessary.

On Monday photos emerged showing his son Hunter, 10, at a Sacramento basketball camp with others, indoors, maskless.

Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel, an actress and director, have four children: daughter Montana, 11; son Hunter, 10; daughter Brooklynn, eight; and a five-year-old son, Dutch.

Critics of Newsom, who is facing a recall election in September in part over anger at his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, seized on the photos as further evidence of his hypocrisy.

Newsom in November was caught at a large birthday dinner at exclusive Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry, in violation of COVID rules.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, refused earlier this month to lift the mask mandate on schools and camps, despite the CDC updating its own guidance. His son Hunter, ten, was pictured this week at camp without a face mask, and Newsom then pulled his kids from camp

Newsom is pictured in November 2018 with his wife Jennifer Siebel, an actress and director, and their have four children: daughter Montana, now 11; son Hunter, now 10; daughter Brooklynn, now eight; and son, Dutch, now five

Newsom and his wife with Montana, Dutch and Hunter in January 2019

'The Newsoms were concerned to see unvaccinated children unmasked indoors at a camp their children began attending yesterday,' said Erin Mellon, Newsom's communications director, in a statement on Tuesday.

'Their kids will no longer be attending the camp.'

Mellon said that Montana and Hunter had been at camp.

Conservative website The Red State obtained an email sent to parents which clearly stated that the wearing of face masks would not be enforced.

The two oldest Newsom children - daughter Montana and son Hunter - begun their summer camp on Monday. On Tuesday night their father pulled them out

The Newsoms said they had not read the email properly.

'The family reviewed communication from the camp and realized that an email was missed saying the camp would not enforce masking guidance,' said Mellon.

After he was caught in apparent violation of his own rules at his French Laundry dinner last fall, Newsom apologized and promised to set a better example.

'I want to apologize to you because I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice, and I've done my best to do that,' Newsom said at the time.

'We're all human. We all fall short sometimes.'

Reopen California Schools, a group that recently filed a lawsuit against the governor over the update requiring students wear face masks in the classroom, first reported on the maskless camp photo.

'This is in clear violation of his own mask mandates. Why can his kid be maskless, but not ours?' the group said on Twitter.