Fox News Accuses Gov. Newsom of ‘Ignoring His Own Travel Ban’ Despite Their Own Reporting Showing He Didn’t Violate Policy

Sarah RumpfJul 6th, 2022, 12:21 pm
 
Fox News story on Gavin Newsom traveling to Montana

Screenshot via Fox News.

There’s a major scandal brewing in California, and Fox News is on top of it. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was busted traveling out of state to Montana, despite his own travel ban — oops, well, it looks like he actually was in compliance with the policy, according to Fox News’ own diligent reporting.

“So, rules for thee, not for me, right?” Bill Hemmer teased the upcoming segment on America’s Newsroom Wednesday morning.

“California governor Gavin Newsom ignoring his own travel ban,” Hemmer continued. “Where he’s gone on vacation after ordering anyone who works for him to stay away.” The screen displayed a photo of Newsom along with a chyron that said “TRAVEL BAN? WHAT TRAVEL BAN?”

“RULES FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME,” blared the graphic after the show returned from the commercial break.

“Governor Gavin Newsom escaping California, going on vacation in Montana after imposing a travel ban to the state,” said Julie Banderas. “How convenient.” She introduced Fox News chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt, who was covering the story from Los Angeles.

Hunt reported that Newsom’s office would not specifically confirm or deny that the governor was in Montana but did say that he was “on a personal trip to visit family who live outside the state of California, and therefore in their view, that this is much ado about nothing.”

Erin Mellon, Newsom’s communications director, sent a statement to Fox News that described the reporting on his “personal trip” as reflecting “a lack of understanding on state policy.”

Mellon “thanked us for our efforts to be accurate,” said Hunt, and read more from her statement:

The travel ban applies to expending state funds. The Governor’s travel is not being paid for by the state. Connecting the two is irresponsible and falsely implies that there is something untoward.

California has banned “state-funded travel” to 22 states, including Montana, over objections to those states’ policies on LGBTQ+ issues, Hunt reported.

“But officials with the governor’s office point out the state does not regulate where people are allowed to have family or persecute those same people for visiting their family,” he added.

The parents of Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have a ranch in Montana and the couple were married there in 2008, said Hunt.

“The bottom line, Julie, this does appear to be a personal vacation which would have nothing to do with the ban on state-funded travel,” he continued, noting that Fox News had “followed up with the governor’s office asking them, well, does that mean there isn’t a single state-funded employee with the governor? Security details for instance.”

Hunt said that Mellon had replied that she could not comment on Newsom’s security detail for security reasons. “We don’t know if security is there because of security,” he said.

“Love that no comment,” replied Banderas.

Anthony York, Newsom’s senior comms advisor, weighed in on Twitter in response to CalMatters reporter Emily Hoeven’s story about the governor’s travel, mocking her tweet calling the story a “scoop.”

“The travel ban applies to using state funds,” wrote York. “The Governor’s travel is not being paid by the state. Connecting the two is an attempt at gotcha journalism that is neither gotcha nor journalism.”

UPDATE 2:45 pm ET: Fox News doubled down on the framing of their Newsom report at the top of the 2:00 pm ET hour of America Reports, with the chyron introducing the clip as “RULES FOR THEE…MONTANA FOR ME,” which anchor Sandra Smith repeated, as her co-anchor John Roberts exclaimed, “Ooh!”

Smith added that Newsom had banned “state workers from going [to Montana] on taxpayer funds but turns out Gov. Newsom has no problem soaking up Big Sky country on his own dime.” She did not mention that Newsom and his wife were visiting her parents.

 

Watch the video clips above, via Fox News.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law & Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Bluesky and Threads.