Tipsheet

Gavin Newsom Is Going to War With Chevron Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  May 22, 2026 1:00 PM

California Governor Gavin Newsom is continuing his years-long crusade against Chevron, this time telling Californians to avoid Chevron gas stations during the busiest driving weekend of the year, as he accused the company of price gouging and ripping off consumers. A laughable claim given the state’s own glaring problems of ripping off taxpayers, as well as the fact that California makes more per gallon in tax revenue than oil companies do in profit.

"Californians, if you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, be sure to AVOID Chevron," Newsom's Press Office account wrote on X. "Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean, even if it doesn’t have a fancy name like ‘Techron.’ Big Oil is already making billions off Trump’s Iran War; don’t let them rip you off even more by overpaying for the brand name."

"Pro tip: Don't take Pro tips from a Politician who hasn't driven himself anywhere since 2004," the official account for the U.S. Oil and Gas Association quipped on X in response.

This comes as Chevron’s own campaign against Governor Newsom flooded social media yesterday, with the company releasing a fresh wave of ads at its California gas stations telling residents who it believes is really responsible for the state’s high gas prices. 

The ads blamed the costs on what Chevron called the root causes: California’s reliance on foreign oil, the nation’s highest gas tax, which Newsom has refused to suspend, and the state’s unwillingness to fully tap into its own oil reserves.