Townhall

You'll Never Guess Who Gavin Newsom Blames for California's Bad Reputation

By Amy Curtis | September 08, 2026 3:30 PM
You'll Never Guess Who Gavin Newsom Blames for California's Bad Reputation
Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool

If there's one thing California Gov. Gavin Newsom was good at, it was generating business for places like U-Haul and moving companies. Because of his failed policies, Californians are fleeing the state and looking for safer, saner, and more affordable places to live. But as Gavin contemplates a run for the White House, he's got a major problem: his state's horrible reputation.

Instead of taking responsibility for his disastrous policies, like his inability to reduce homelessness, clean up the streets, and get the high-speed rail project completed, Newsom is doing his favorite thing: blaming "right-wing media outlets" for spreading "lies" about his state. And the San Francisco Chronicle was more than happy to assist Newsom in spinning that narrative.

Here's more:

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived Thursday afternoon at a meet-and-greet event about 25 miles northwest of Charleston, he was greeted by protesters telling him to go home.

About a dozen people stood on the grass outside waving signs with blunt messages: “Don’t California my South Carolina.” “GO HOME GAVIN.” “You can’t run your own state. Stay out of ours.”

Newsom flashed a thumbs-up at the protesters as he walked into the event. Inside, before an audience who had waited an hour and a half to hear him speak, he made a pitch for why voters in a part of the state rife with West Coast skepticism should view his California roots as an asset.

The perception that California is a bad place to live is the result of lies, Newsom contends, peddled by right-wing media outlets.

“Why do they come after California? Because we literally prove that everything they’re promoting is bulls**t,” Newsom told the Chronicle. “As long as we’re successful, it proves them wrong. We’re their biggest problem.”

You have to get 13 paragraphs into the article, which heaps praise on Newsom, before the San Francisco Chronicle mentions only some of California's problems, including having the second-highest rate of unsheltered homelessness after Oregon, that 17 percent of the state population lives in poverty, and that it has the nation's highest gas prices. And that's what they limit their criticisms to.

But there are so many more problems than that. Cities like Oakland and Stockton are some of the most violent cities in the country. Newsom himself signed legislation that lets violent criminals out of prison after they've served a certain amount of time and reached a certain age — regardless of how heinous their crimes were or the risk their release poses to the community. He's been constantly smacked down in court for unconstitutional laws that seek to curb free speech and gun rights, most recently getting slapped with a lawsuit by independent journalist Nick Shirley over legislation that criminalizes investigative reporting in the state.

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The state lost a congressional seat in 2020 and is projected to lose at least four more after the 2030 census because of population decreases. 

This post is long, but hits some damning numbers. The state has a net domestic migration of about -216,000 for the year ending July 1, 2025. IRS files show that higher-AGI households are leaving the state, too. 

Businesses have fled, including the headquarters of companies like Tesla, Oracle, Chevron, SpaceX, Twitter/X, Charles Schwab, Public Storage, and others. Many of them have moved to Texas.

"Crime in San Francisco fell sharply in 2025 by SFPD’s own numbers (homicides at a 70-year low, large drops in property crime). That undercuts the worst “doom loop” rhetoric. It does not undercut the years of retail theft, open-air drug markets, and quality-of-life complaints that residents and businesses documented in real time. The Chronicle itself ran a letter noting that its crime coverage helped shape a perception the paper later treated as overstated," Cheely wrote.

And here's just one example of Newsom's failed governance:

But sure, the "right-wing media" are driving the negative perception of California.

That's his record.

This would be funny if it wasn't so terrifying. It also shows how the media can easily shape narratives. Cockrell believes Newsom did a good job because Newsom and outlets like the San Francisco Chronicle tell her he's doing a good job. She ignores the reality on the ground that Cheely pointed out above, and now she — and Newsom himself — want to bring those failed policies nationwide.

No, thank you.

Source: https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/09/08/sf-chronicle-right-wing-lies-about-california-n2682615