California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) returned to the state Sunday after an unexplained absence during a state of emergency, and later shared a photo of himself purporting to show him working during the day “today.”

The problem: both the timestamp on the image, and the time on Newsom’s own watch, suggest that the photo was taken in the evening, implying that Newsom did not meet with emergency officials until late in the day.

On Sunday, as Breitbart News reported, the governor had been absent in an undisclosed location since at least Thursday, a day after he belatedly declared a state of emergency for blizzards that had started a week before.

While Newsom was away, desperate residents remained stranded in mountain communities, many running out of food, fuel, and medicine. In some places, the promised California National Guard help had not yet arrived.

Crestline, CA – March 03: Crestline, CA – March 03: Residents in San Bernardino Mountain brave long lines for food at Goodwin & Son’s Market in Crestline on Friday, March 3, 2023, amidst a shortage caused by heavy snowfall and difficulties with delivery truck access on Highway 18. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/MediaNews Group/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images)

At 11:26 a.m. Sunday, Newsom’s office issued an eight-word press release announcing that the governor had returned to the state. The headline was about Newsom’s “schedule” but offered no details about his plans.

Late Sunday night, his office issued another press release, describing Newsom’s meetings “today” with state emergency response officials. His office also shared an image of Newsom as he met with those officials.

The image, retweeted by Newsom himself, claimed he had met with officials “today,” but was posted at 8:35 p.m. Pacific Time. A closer view of Newsom’s watch indicated the time of the meeting was at about 6:00 p.m.

A closeup of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s watch, in an image distributed by the Governor’s Press Office, March 5, 2023.

Newsom often attacks Republicans governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, but DeSantis handled recent natural disasters by declaring a state of emergency before a storm arrived, and remaining in the state to lead efforts.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.