Gavin Newsom Says He Canceled Climate Summit Trip to Be with Family: 'I Had No Damn Choice'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday made his first public appearance in two weeks, participating in a fireside chat at the 2021 California Economic Summit and telling the audience that his recent hiatus from public life could be attributed to one thing: more time spent with family.

Noting that it's been "a hell of a couple years for all of us — particularly parents," Newsom, 54, said that he has gone from "crisis to crisis," citing California's wildfires and droughts, along with the pandemic and issues of social justice.

After the state's recent recall election — another major challenge, though voters overwhelmingly backed him — Newsom said he endured "three weeks of intensity" spent signing bills. Still, he said he was "ready to go" on a long-planned trip to the U.N. climate change conference held in Scotland also known as COP26. Until his kids intervened.

"The kids literally kind of had an intervention," he said Tuesday. "They couldn't believe that I was going to miss Halloween ... I'm defending myself. And my wife was going to go as well."

He continued: "Mom and Dad missing Halloween was, for them, worse than Christmas."

Following the pleas from his kids not to leave them on Halloween, Newsom said he woke up the next morning with "something that is probably familiar to a lot of parents: that knot in your stomach."

"I had no damn choice," he said. "I had to cancel that trip."

Instead, he said, he stayed in California, taking his kids to the office and snapping selfies in front of the large bronze bear at the governor's office, attending soccer games and, of course, dressing up for Halloween (as pirates, though Newsom said his costume was a little too small).

The past two weeks, Newsom said, have largely been spent "catching up after a pretty intense period of time with the family, myself, my team — and it's been probably the most productive week I've had since I've been governor."

Though he has made no public appearances in recent weeks, Newsom did attend the weekend wedding of Ivy Getty, the great-granddaughter of oil billionaire J. Paul Getty.

His appearance at the wedding came roughly one week after he cancelled his planned trip to COP26.

Newsom, who has made climate change an integral part of his platform, had reportedly been preparing for the trip to Scotland for weeks.

But in late October, his office issued a statement saying he had scuttled the trip, citing "family obligations."

His office said then that he would "instead be participating virtually, focusing on California's landmark climate change policies."

A spokesperson for the governor told Sacramento's KCRA in a statement that Newsom's public absence didn't mean he wasn't working behind the scenes.

"Last week Governor Newsom worked in the Capitol with staff on urgent issues including COVID-19 vaccines for kids, boosters, ports, the forthcoming state budget and California's continued economic recovery," the spokesperson said, adding: "He will have public events this week related to the economy and vaccines."

Newsom's wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, addressed some of the speculation regarding his brief step back in a since-deleted tweet on Sunday.

"It's funny how certain folks can't handle truth," she wrote. "When someone cancels something, maybe they're just in the office working; maybe in their free time they're at home with their family, at their kids' sports matches, or dining out with their wife. Please stop hating and get a life."

The governor alluded to the online chatter at his appearance on Tuesday, saying: "I think we'd all do well taking some time away from social media. It's just a thought."

Despite now three times being voted into office, Newsom has faced some moments of notable criticism while in office, including when he was photographed flouting his own public health guidelines amid the pandemic as well as problems in his administration related to $10 billion in unemployment fraud.

Still, he urged Californians to stick with him and the progress he said he would continue to make versus the Republicans who said he needed to be ousted.

"No is not the only thing that was expressed tonight," he said in September after the election was called in his favor. "We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic."

He continued: "Tonight I'm humble, grateful, but resolved in the spirit of my political hero Robert Kennedy to make more gentle the light of this world."