Like George Washington, Gavin Newsom cannot tell a lie.
Technically, historians think Washington never actually said that and Newsom says things that aren’t true all the time, but Newsom is dying to follow Washington’s footsteps to the presidency and he’s finally being somewhat honest about it.
When asked the other day if he was considering running, California’s governor told CBS News: “Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that.”
It appears Newsom means he doesn’t want to lie going forward, because in the past he’s repeatedly denied it even though becoming president is all he seems to think about.
Dreaming of higher office is so on brand for Newsom. As San Francisco mayor Newsom dreamed of being governor, and when those hopes were temporarily derailed by Jerry Brown, Newsom became Lieutenant Governor. As lieutenant governor he never stopped dreaming and upon becoming California’s governor he lived every day as if he were campaigning for the presidency.
And now he’s finally being honest about it.
In 2022, Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Editorial Board that he had “sub-zero” interest in running for president.
“It’s not even on my radar,” Newsom said.
Not on his radar, though he would only talk to national media for the longest time. He wouldn’t answer questions on California issues to California media but he would sit down with The Atlantic and New York Times and get poetic about vague concepts like democracy.
Nevermind the fact that he has launched several podcasts in an effort to expand his reach beyond California. Nevermind the fact that he has consistently tried positioning himself as the leader of the Democratic Party. Newsom saw in polling that Democrats want a fighter and he can tell you all the ways he has fought with President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Fox News and so on.
If you’re on the right, Newsom will fight with you. Unless he’d rather use you for clout chasing, then he’ll tell you all about how he gets is, which he says constantly (“I get it”), like in his conversations with the late Charlie Kirk, or Fox News’ Sean Hannity, or far-right Steve Bannon, or podcast host Shawn Ryan.
Newsom is a fighter, but also he gets it. He knows what it’s like to be you, whoever you are, and he’ll tell you all about it if you let him, especially if you’re a member of the National Press Club or a voter in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada.
Newsom is so thirsty for national attention and is willing to do anything to be president – everything except govern effectively. The same problems plaguing California now are the same problems plaguing California when he was elected: Cost of living, homelessness, housing shortage, education crisis, literacy crisis, energy crisis, wildfire crises, water crisis, and so on. All the crises.
Anyone who has ever looked for a new job while working at their current job has probably experienced a bad case of divided attention. You come in to work in a coat and tie even though it’s not a coat and tie kind of job because you have an interview later in the day. You make up a plausible excuse and offer it to coworkers before they even ask.
That’s the past six years under Newsom as governor, except Californians ask. We ask constantly “Hey, where are you going governor? You got a job interview?” “No,” has always replied, he has “sub zero interest” in a new job. But then he’s not in the office and the work’s not getting done and he pops up in a fancy restaurant after he ordered the state shut down or somewhere on the east coast.
On X and in interviews, Newsom tried touting his accomplishments as governor. One thing is for sure, he has carefully cultivated a list of alleged accomplishments that can appeal to anyone at any time. Unfortunately, his accomplishments have accomplished very little.
Homelessness is as bad as ever in California, despite us being at the tail end of a five-year period for which he announced he would “end family homelessness.” It hasn’t ended.
Newsom regularly brags about the size of California’s economy, even though it has stagnated under his watch. Unsurprisingly, he was very quiet this month when the state slipped down the rankings from fourth to fifth.
Newsom brags about a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, even though the policy has merely dumped even higher prices on consumers and the industry has shed around 20,000 jobs in just a few years.Newsom is bragging about improved test scores, but a majority of students are still not proficient in math and English. Sure, the modest improvement is nice, but a majority of students aren’t proficient and still aren’t back to pre-pandemic levels.
The list goes on. Newsom bragged about California having the “largest civil service program in the country,” which is not true because the federal government does by a mile. But even if it were true, is it a good thing? He keeps spending more taxpayer dollars on highly diminishing returns – hardly an accomplishment.
It’s great he’s finally being honest, or at least on the verge of being honest, since he’s been running a shadow presidential campaign for years. But maybe he could scrap the honesty tour and start governing effectively.
Matt Fleming is an opinion columnist with the Southern California News Group. Find him on X at @FlemingWords or email him at flemingwords@gmail.com.
