A religious liberty law firm has given California Gov. Gavin Newsom a huge lump of coal for his Christmas stocking.
The Democrat won the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s “2023 Ebenezer Award” because he canceled an in-person Christmas tree lighting and passed over a Hanukkah menorah lighting the state’s leader traditionally attends.
Becket officials were particularly miffed that Mr. Newsom’s office cited fears of “anti-Israel protests,” The Sacramento Bee reported. The newspaper said pro-Palestinian activists criticized the second-term governor as being unwilling to “face the public that is enraged by his shameful silence” on the situation in Gaza.
“In canceling one of California’s most cherished holiday traditions and skipping another, Newsom can rightly be dubbed the Governor who stole Christmas and Hanukkah,” Becket President and CEO Mark Rienzi said in a statement. “We hope Governor’s heart will grow three sizes next year, so that Californians can once again celebrate their annual holidays with joy.”
Meanwhile, Becket offered an “Eggnog Toast” to Rabbi Mendy Herber of Chabad Williamsburg Virginia. The synagogue set up and lit a public menorah after a local nonprofit had refused to host the ceremony partly because it didn’t want to support “the killing/bombing of thousands of men, women & children” in the Israel-Hamas war.
Rabbi Herber hosted the ceremony on the campus of the College of William & Mary, drawing a crowd of more than 250.
“All Americans should be able to come together in a spirit of joy and hope at the holidays,” Mr. Rienzi said. “While there will always be those who seek to divide us, the Christmas and Hanukkah season serves as an important reminder of our need to live together in peace despite our differences.”
A Newsom spokesman directed a reporter to the governor’s comments to Fox 11 TV in Los Angeles about the tree lighting contretemps.
“We just couldn’t risk what was being promoted as a die-in or sit-in or some protest to shut down Christmas,” he told anchor Elex Michaelson. “So that was unfortunate. And it is the nature of the moment we’re living in.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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