Newport Beach mayor blasts California gov's beach closure order: 'This has nothing to do with data'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.
Newport Beach, Calif., Mayor Will O'Neill slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday over his order to close beaches in Orange County.
O'Neill told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that Newsom's order is politically motivated and not supported by medical data.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom closed 43 miles of Orange County beaches, not because of data, but because of politics," he said. "In our local hospital, we have 475 beds. They have never treated more than 25 people at any given time, and yesterday they had nine people that they were treating, and only one percent of their ventilators were being used."
O'Neill added that communities with closed beaches in Los Angeles County all have a higher per-capita infection rate than open-beach communities in his county.
"This has nothing to do with data, and it has everything to do with politics," he reiterated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think what our governor did was, he looked up photographs that were showing a mile of beach condensed into about a meter. It looked like everyone was on top of each other. But he should've called me [before issuing his order]."
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
O'Neill said that he would have told Newsom that his office, law enforcement leaders and lifeguards would have all attested to the vast majority of his town's beachgoers acting responsibly.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Our governor should've fought beside us. He should've fought against this national narrative," he said. "Instead, the first time we heard from our governor was yesterday, last night, when he had someone from his office call us and tell us, 'Your beaches are closed.'"