Denver mayor travels on Thanksgiving after urging people to stay home

The mayor of Denver explains himself and apologizes after his trip to Mississippi for Thanksgiving, although he has urged others to stay home if possible due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Michael Hancock said he made the decision to leave town because his wife and daughter were in Mississippi, where his daughter recently took a job.

“As the vacation approached, I decided it would be safer for me to travel to see them than to bring two of my family back to Denver,” he said Wednesday.

I made my decision as a husband and father, and for those who are angry and disappointed, I humbly ask you to forgive the decisions that are carried by my heart and not by my head. (5/5)

– Michael B. Hancock ? (@MayorHancock) November 25, 2020

Earlier today, the mayor tweeted public health guidelines regarding the Thanksgiving vacation that urged people to avoid travel if possible – a request the Democratic mayor agreed to when explaining his own trip.

Hancock’s trip was reported earlier Wednesday by NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.

The mayor’s trip comes as Colorado officials have warned of a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases that threaten to stress the hospital system, and after warnings from the governor and others for Thanksgiving gatherings to stay small and safe.

Hancock said in the statement his family had canceled their traditional Thanksgiving celebration in multiple households.

The station reported that he traveled to Houston for the trip to Mississippi and that his account tweeted the instructions to stay home about 30 minutes before his flight.

“I admit that my decision disappointed a lot of people who think it would have been better to spend Thanksgiving alone,” Hancock said. “As a public official, whose conduct is rightly scrutinized for the message he sends to others, I apologize to the people of Denver who view my decision as being at odds with advice to stay home. home for all trips except essential trips. “

This is not the first time recently that a government official has apologized or had to explain himself for the measures taken as infections rise in the United States and increased restrictions were implemented.

Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom apologized for attending a dinner at French Laundry restaurant in the wine country with people not from his household.

Newsom said that he and his wife were invited to a friend’s 50th birthday party, that it was bigger than he expected and that “I made a big mistake” and that he should have left.

“The spirit of what I preach all the time has been contradicted,” Newsom said. He said that he and his wife had only been out two more times since February and that they were alone, and that “this is not a practice that I have done in the past”.