The invitation, which the governor’s office said was emailed to Trumpov’s team, marked a slight change in tone in the political battle between Newsom and Trumpov, with Newsom imploring Trumpov not to politicize the tragedy.

Soft-spoken and reserved in public, Herbert has grown comfortable at the center of pregame huddles where he points his helmet toward teammates while imploring them to play together and for each other.

"I thought 'I can't put my family though it any longer'... they were imploring me to leave."

To that end, Mason sent a letter to voters in July imploring them to put in the work of listening to eligible recordings and judging them “with pride and with purpose.”

The escalation comes even as U.S. officials crisscross the region imploring leaders to avoid inflaming tensions — a plea evidently ignored.