According to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, “it may be time to update your talking points,” as the Democratic presidential hopeful works overtime to sell voters on the idea that his poorly governed state is actually a model worth emulating. 

At a Wednesday press conference, Newsom bragged about the only thing he plausibly can: California’s booming economy, which has grown in spite of the state’s leadership. He touted California’s enormous startup investment, its innovation economy, and GDP growth during his tenure, while his press office accused conservatives of suffering from “California Derangement Syndrome.”

"For all of those with the old talking points, it may be time to update your talking points, including, by the way, some of the new information that just came in 48 hours ago, that last year California enjoyed more investment than all of the other 49 states times three last year," Newsom said Wednesday. "$366 billion was invested into over 4,000 startups in the state of California. We simply have no peers. You don't see that on the headlines. You don't, and you should, because there's simply no other economy in the world like the state of California."

"And you say, well, that's a bit hyperbolic. No, it's not. Bloomberg ran the numbers. Since 2019, California's GDP has grown over 40 percent, not only more than any other state in the nation, not only more than the United States of America, more than any developed economy in the world," he said. "We have no peers. And it's not just in AI. It's not just in technology. Quite the contrary. Those 4,000 startups, by definition, weren't all based in Silicon Valley, weren't all based here in the Bay Area. It's the diversity of this economy that also allows us to lay claim to being the number one factory economy in America, number one manufacturing economy, $425.6 billion of output, 39 percent of the nation's manufacturing here in California, $62.1 billion of economic output with our farmers and our ranchers."

"You talk about an ag economy. You talk about an economy of hunting jobs and forestry jobs. You're talking about the great state of California," Newsom added.

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It also happens that Newsom is taking credit for forces set in motion long before he entered public life, let alone became governor. California’s economic strength is a testament to the state’s creative, entrepreneurial individuals and world-class industries, not a referendum on Newsom’s political abilities. In fact, California’s economy is so resilient that it may be the only thing preventing the Golden State from sliding into a far steeper decline. In other words, the private sector is subsidizing Newsom’s failures, and he held a press conference to brag about it.