Some Gavin Newsom detractors are just making things up

from Dan WaltersCalMatters

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As Gavin Newsom ramps up his near-certain presidential campaign and polls put him in contention for the 2028 Democratic nomination, he has become a favorite target of right-wing commentators on network television and in YouTube videos and social media.

Although some criticisms are based on facts and reasonable distinctions, there are also substrates of highly exaggerated, even fictional results. The talking heads portray him not as an aspiring politician posing as a selfless public servant – something everyone does, including the current president – ​​but as a fraudulent charlatan.

In Newsom’s nearly three-decade political career, there is plenty of material for legitimate criticism. And he is prone to excessive bragging about his achievements and amnesia about his failures.

However, his fiercest critics have taken bits and pieces of fact — including those that have nothing to do with Newsom — and pumped them up to portray him as an agent of corruption and incompetence.

An oft-repeated trope is that Newsom, in cahoots with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, willfully or incompetently failed to protect city residents and suburban neighborhoods from devastating wildfires earlier this year.

President Donald Trump fueled that narrative by accusing Newsom of not sending enough water to Southern California, leading to shortages that hamper firefighting efforts. that’s it it’s just not truebut it is repeated, with embellishments, regularly.

Another frequently aired criticism of Newsom’s abuses a column I wrote when he was inaugurated in 2019. It depicts the fascinating interrelationships between his family and the Getty, Brown and Pelosi clans spanning more than eight decades.

Videos that often appear on YouTube quote the column verbatim, without attribution, and show the family relationship chart that accompanies the article. They then proceed with baseless additions suggesting links to organized crime or some other criminal activity.

Another line of criticism cites some left-wing legislative proposal or ballot measure proposal, treats it as if it has already gone into effect, depicts its supposed devastating effect on the innocent public, and lays it at Newsom’s feet. The proposed wealth taxthat could appear on the 2026 ballot is one of the favorite topics, though Newsom has repeatedly dismissed it.

Many of Newsom’s critics who breathlessly report his evil plans (which the leftist mainstream media allegedly covers up) are just nobodys pretending to be authorities and are clearly fronts for right-wing organizations. But some are recognizable California figures.

Two frequent critics on YouTube are Carl DeMaioa longtime San Diego Republican politician who won a state Assembly seat last year, and Victor Davis Hansonhistorian associated with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

DeMaio’s catch is that he has uncovered some terrible thing that Newsom and other Democrats have cooked up to hurt honest, hard-working Californians, but that the mainstream media has ignored. It is usually accompanied by a proposal for donations to his organization.

Hanson is a widely recognized, erudite authority on military history, particularly World War II. He also fancies himself a political commentator with a particular focus on Newsom, but his critiques often fall short on the facts.

One of Hanson’s favorite claims is that Newsom diverted bond funds intended to build new water projects to finance demolishing four dams on the Klamath Riverr. However, the commitment to this project dates back to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governorship, and the bond issue specifically contained appropriations for it.

The skewed criticism of Newsom is even more repulsive than his own penchant for distorting historical facts. It also undermines legitimate questioning of Newsom’s record because he can, and does, paint any negative imagery as baseless propaganda.

The drumbeat against Newsom is likely to grow louder as he inches closer to declaring a presidential bid. The viewer beware.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.