Outspoken restaurant owner joins Newsom recall effort: 'No doubt it needs to happen'
Angela Marsden, Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon owner blames Newsom for causing 'humanitarian crisis'
Aaron Rodgers said Thursday he was spending some of his offseason helping out businesses near his hometown in Northern California that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rodgers said "there’s been a lot good" as he remarked on his engagement to actress Shailene Woodley but commented on how COVID-19 and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rules have affected people around the Chico area.
"I’m recently engaged, so I’ve been enjoying that part of my life. Obviously, that’s the best thing that’s happened to me in the last year. There’s been a lot of good," he said in an interview with Zenith Watches.
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"Been doing some work actually in my hometown in Northern California as well to try and help some people through a small business fund that we started. You know, we’re just trying to do our part and as we ease back into the training stuff in my professional life, I just want to make sure where I’m from and the area I’ve called home in the past are doing OK. And California has really been hit hard by COVID and by the rules that the governor has put in place as well. It’s been nice to be able to help some people out and I think we’re all just waiting for a little bit of hope on the horizon."
The Green Bay Packers star previously criticized politicians who set COVID rules but were breaking them. He made his comment in January on "The Pat McAfee Show." At the time, he blasted politicians for failing to speed up the process of getting people the help they need while praising Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy for establishing a fund to help restaurants in need.
"It’s just an amazing deal what they’re doing. I mean, to be able to not only change people’s lives and livelihoods but to do it in such a timely fashion … I mean the money is going out 24 to 72 hours and I think there was just such a need if you look around our environment today, it’s not like the government is really helping anybody out in a timely fashion," he told McAfee.
"I mean, they took forever to figure out how to give $600 checks away and then, you know, may or may not get to 2,000 this point. That’s not life-changing money. What Dave [Portnoy] and his folks are doing with the Barstool Fund is life-changing money. It’s sustainability for these people and I think that’s the thing you gravitate towards the most is just not having a reliance on the government to help you out because it’s obviously shown that’s not going to be the way they’re going to do it."
"I mean, they put these rules in place … they’re not even following their own rules," he added. "How many people have gotten caught? Don’t travel, don’t leave the state. Oh, here’s so-and-so on a vacation. Oh, here’s so-and-so at a salon. Don’t eat out at a restaurant unless you’re wearing a mask and separate. Oh, here’s a picture of the governor of California violating those rules. Oh, public schools are closed but I can send my kids to a private school in person. It’s like, I mean, for us to count on the government to help us out is becoming a joke at this point."
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Newsom has come under scrutiny in recent months for how he’s handled the pandemic. A petition to recall him has reached more than 1.9 million signatures.
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