COVID Purple Tier: Mayor Breed Regrets Attending French Laundry Dinner
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed accepted criticism and expressed regret Thursday over attending a birthday party at the French Laundry last month as COVID-19 cases surged.
Breed expressed her remorse on Twitter while sharing an editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle that criticized Breed, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other politicians who attended public gatherings while ignoring the rules and recommendations they supported.
"This criticism is fair. It doesn't matter whether something is technically allowed or not--I need to hold myself to a higher standard and I will do better," Breed tweeted. "What I especially regret is that the urgency of our public health message in this moment has never been more dire and my actions have distracted from that.
"We're in a much different place than even just a few weeks ago and we need everyone to do their part, starting with me," Breed added.
But social media did not let Breed off so easy.
The criticism came earlier this week after reporters learned that Breed attended a birthday party at the famous Napa Valley restaurant in November with an unknown number of guests. The story followed the news that Newsom also attended a large birthday party at the French Laundry the night before Breed's dinner.
Both politicians expressed regret after the parties were exposed.
"While our family followed the restaurant's health protocols and took safety precautions, we should have modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner," Newsom said in a statement last month.
The revelations came as COVID-19 cases surged in California. On Wednesday, the state reported over 20,000 news cases - a new state record.
