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The Best Thing Gavin Newsom Said Today — About Mullets — Tuesday, 5/26/20

California Governor
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Gavin Newsom at his daily press conference on Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Governor Gavin Newsom announced, Tuesday, that barbershops and hair salons can reopen in counties that have shown themselves to be safe and getting safer. Naturally, he took the opportunity to talk about his own hair — in a convincingly deadpan fashion.

It began when San Francisco Chronicle reporter Alexei Koseff asked the governor what safety precautions would be taken by such businesses. He answered by directing her to read up on them at covid19.ca.gov, and then he followed up with this gem:

You have the opportunity to look through the details of the guidelines as it relates to what we hope and expect to see in barbershops and hair salons. By the way, I didn't see any of that in the work that was done by my barber, just a few days ago. It was actually a collection of barbers — a six year old, an eight year old, and a 10 year old barber — that were not practicing physical distancing, that were not considering the deep sanitation requirements, wearing face coverings. Nor was their subject. And I say subject because they had at me. It was a family effort to remove what was described by my wife as, forgive me, a mullet. So, that is not what we're looking to in terms of guidance. Our family will have to read these guidelines as well, and make sure we modify our family behavior, accordingly. But know that we worked with the industry, and we think these guidelines are appropriate to the task. And I'll keep you abreast on whether or not they're met in my house.

The lines were delivered with as much sincerity as any of the soberest news Governor Newsom has shared during this crisis. (Be sure to hear it for yourself, by clicking the play button, above.)

It's not clear, yet, if his barbers will take issue with him exposing their lax habits. We'll find out next time he gets a haircut.

Ben joined KALW in 2004. As Executive News Editor and then News Director, he helped the news department win numerous regional and national awards for long- and short-form journalism. He also helped teach hundreds of audio producers, many of whom work with him at KALW, today.