To listen to Gavin Newsom tell it, California is “not only dominating but paving the way for the future of jobs and the American economy.” If only it were true.
He continues to brush off bad press – and even worse data – that tells a much different story about the state of California. But Newsom’s repeated attempts to gaslight the public are catching up with him.
Perhaps most egregious is Newsom’s claim that his ill-advised $20 fast food minimum wage law has been a “win-win-win” for the state. He claims it’s “not only lifting up working families but also strengthening our economy. Let’s fact check that.
For months, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown job losses in our state’s fast food sector. Multiple surveys also found that fast food establishments across the state slashed workers’ hours, drastically increased prices, and even shuttered completely. The most recent report from the Berkeley Research Group shows the state lost over 10,000 jobs from June 2023 to June 2024.
Newsom has tried to defend his bad law, calling these government statistics “fake numbers.” (It’s worth noting Newsom himself has cited this same data.) Despite his denials, the data shows that workers have suffered due to his law. No amount of PR spin will pull the wool over the eyes of employees who find themselves with less hours or out of work entirely.
Unfortunately, this is far from the only time Newsom has denied the facts to better fit his own narrative. When a media storm kicked up surrounding President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Newsom jumped into the press noting that “California’s been a leader in [the government efficiency] space.” He couldn’t be further off.
In his tenure, Newsom doubled the staff in the governor’s office, oversaw a 63 percent budget increase since 2019, and ballooned the current budget to over $100 billion more than it was before he took office.
It doesn’t stop there. After facing criticism over the state’s homelessness problem, Newsom claimed that California has “dramatically slowed and reduced the growth of homelessness” in the state.
If Gavin spent less time running his mouth and more time fact checking, he’d see the reality: California’s homeless totaled over 186,000 in 2024. That’s a 5,000-plus increase since 2023 and a 30,000 increase since 2019, when he took office.
This is after the state spent $24 billion on efforts to combat homelessness, according to a state auditor, with some localities such as Los Angeles receiving a $875 million budget. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) California is also the worst state in the country for homelessness.
But wait – here’s more! He’s also misled the public when it comes to the proposed high speed rail system, to misleading a constituent about being on the phone with President Biden during his response to the terrible Los Angeles fires, and various other issues.
Until Newsom decides to wake up and face facts, Californians need the tools to hold him accountable. My organization recently launched a fact-checker that is calling out Newsom for his untruths, and we will continue to call out his misleading statements.
Tom Manzo is president and founder of the California Business and Industrial Alliance