Gavin Newsom, the Democrat governor of the once great state of California who really wants to run for president, is not known for "walking the talk," as they say. Somehow, he keeps finding new lower-than-low depths to which he can sink in his hypocritical shenanigans.
Some of the most egregious examples include locking down his state's residents with COVID restrictions, then getting caught dining maskless with his elitist friends at the swanky French Laundry in Napa Valley. And who could forget him keeping students out of schools for months on end even while his own kids enjoyed in-person instruction and time with their peers at the ritzy private school they attend?
Well, this week has brought even more hypocrisy from Newsom as he announced that "California won't be doing business with Walgreens — or any company that cowers to extremists and puts women's lives at risk," in a tweet. "We're done," he added on behalf of his state.
America is, admittedly, a free country — though California regularly undermines and infringes upon that freedom — but perhaps Newsom is not the guy to be talking about boycotting companies due to business decisions with which he disagrees.
You see, Newsom has been a leading Democrat voice launching attacks on Ron DeSantis for Florida's legislation that stripped Walt Disney World of its special district status. According to Newsom, that sort of action is beyond the pale and makes DeSantis some sort of fascist, cultural warrior…while Newsom does worse than that to Walgreens.
That's because Walgreens was not and is not threatening to challenge Newsom’s horrific abortion free-for-all laws in California, whereas Disney issued direct threats to challenge Florida's parental rights law.
Somehow, when Walgreens agrees to cease sales of mifepristone, an abortifacient, in certain states due to warnings from attorneys general in jurisdictions where life is protected by law, Newsom is a righteous hero for declaring a state boycott of the company. Yet, when DeSantis decides it's silly for Florida to grant special privileges and limited autonomy to Disney World while its CEO actively demonizes the Sunshine State and threatens to pursue legal action against it, he's the bad guy?
That dog won't hunt, but Newsom peddles his dissonant and hypocritical narrative anyway. He's claimed it's because he doesn't like "bullies," but he's even more of a bully. Still, he can get away with it because of his lapdogs in the mainstream media and Democrats across the country who will amplify any attack against DeSantis, no matter how flawed or hypocritical it is.
But that's not Newsom's only glaring act of hypocrisy. As mentioned earlier, Newsom flaunted his own COVID rules to continue living the life he wanted while depriving Californians of the same opportunity. He also vacationed in Montana last July after barring official travel to the state over trumped-up accusations of bigotry.
Most recently, Newsom — who has never shied away from the opportunity to tell Republican governors how they should run their states and has repeatedly accused GOP leaders of "incompetence" — has abandoned leadership of California's response to winter storms that buried residents of his own state in just his latest hypocritical display.
Our friend over at RedState, Jen Van Laar, has documented Newsom's failed response to recent storms at length, which is becoming just another example of how California's governor has plenty of time to attack Republicans running states that are shown to be better places to live — according to those who vote with their feet and flee California for states such as Florida — but not enough time or concern to care for residents of his own state.
As Van Laar explained, California residents in higher elevations were buried in snow, leading to the deaths of at least three people so far in San Bernardino County. Volunteer search and rescue parties said they expect the body count will rise. And where was Gavin Newsom? Cabo, of course.
Sure, Newsom declared a state of emergency before he flew more than 1,000 miles to warm and sunny Cabo, but much of the assistance that was supposed to come for those impacted by the storms hasn't arrived, "and that's had deadly consequences," Van Laar noted.
Could the response have been better had Newsom not fled his state to go enjoy some time south of the border? Almost certainly. Would there have been better optics had Newsom not flown to another country while some of his residents died, trapped in their homes? Definitely.
So, the next time Newsom decides to judge a Republican governor, he should think twice. His hypocrisy on a range of issues — from COVID to corporations to competency — disqualifies him from throwing any stones. He should get his own house in order — and care for his own residents — before pretending to be the arbiter of truth and justice he seems to think he is.