Gavin Newsom slapped with 'Ebenezer Award' for canceling in-person Christmas tree lighting
California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was awarded an "Ebenezer Award" by a prominent religious liberty advocacy group for having canceled an in-person Christmas tree lighting ceremony and skipping a menorah lighting this year amid anti-Israel protests.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty announced Tuesday that Newsom earned the dishonorable accolade for the Dec. 5 statement he issued with "First Partner" Jennifer Siebel Newsom explaining that the 92nd annual Christmas tree lighting at the California State Capitol would be virtual and streamed on his social media accounts.
The Governor who stole Christmas and Hanukkah? That title, and Becket’s 2023 Ebenezer Award, goes to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who canceled the state’s annual in-person Christmas tree lighting in favor of a virtual event and skipped the menorah lighting over fears of… pic.twitter.com/4dg1q85LzN
— BECKET (@BECKETlaw) December 19, 2023 Get Our Latest News for FREE
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The Becket Fund also noted that Newsom skipped an annual menorah lighting typically attended by California governors, which they claimed further qualified him for the award named after the Christmas-hating Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
A spokesperson for Newsom explained at the time that the decision came after "protests across the country" emerged in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, including in New York, where seven people were arrested at the city's Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center.
"As we continue to see protests across the country impacting the safety of events of all scales — and for the safety and security of all participating members and guests including children and families — the ceremony this year will be virtual," the statement read. "The program is unchanged and viewers can tune in Wednesday evening to watch this year's festivities."
Earlier this month, ahead of Newsom's announcement that the tree-lighting ceremony would be virtual this year, protesters with the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights rallied at the state Capitol to call on Newsom to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Becket Fund criticized Newsom for his decision, saying, "Rather than allow all Californians to ring in the Christmas season at the capital, the Governor invited only his family and a few select guests."
"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," he added, implying the governor is behaving like the Grinch from the Dr. Seuss classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
During the pandemic, Newsom enacted what many saw as draconian health guidelines for gatherings during the holidays, banning gatherings of more than three households and urging people to collect names and other information for "contact tracing" purposes.
Any mention of Christmas has been scrubbed from the websites of at least two California state agencies this year, including from Newsom's official website, which said nothing about Christmas in its official announcement for the tree-lighting ceremony.
As noted by California's Department of Developmental Services, the annual tradition of lighting a Christmas tree at the California State Capitol began in 1931. However, Christmas celebrations at the Capitol have occurred since 1869.
Becket also offered its annual "Eggnog Toast," which it awards "to an individual or group who has shown persistence in the face of adversity," to Chabad Williamsburg and Rabbi Herber for continuing to conduct a menorah lighting ceremony even after the Virginia non-profit LoveLight Placemaking declined to host the event in part because of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Becket Fund has bestowed the Ebenezer Award annually since 2000 in response to what its describes as "a slew of outrageous offenses against the free exercise of religion."
"At Becket, we do Santa's dirty work for him, delivering a lump of coal as an acknowledgment of scroogery on a grand scale," the nonprofit said.
Previous winners have included King County, Washington, which last year banned government employees from displaying religious items in common areas and even on Zoom calls; the American Humanist Association, which in 2016 tried to prevent schools from assisting disadvantaged children; the Department of Veteran Affairs, which banned staff at its Salem, Virginia, facility from wishing veterans a "Merry Christmas" in 2015; and the University of Minnesota, which forbade holiday-themed items from its campus in 2017.
