Politicians are a special bunch. The slippery ones are able to gaslight and deny with ease and never take accountability when they fail their constituents. It’s always someone else’s fault, something they couldn’t control, the result of bad decisions by the other party.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has turned this into somewhat of an art form, and would most likely tell you straight to your face without a hint of irony that he has been a terrific governor and the state is better off for it. The problem with that is, he’s been in power for over seven years, and I cannot think of a single thing in the Golden State that has improved under his watch.
In fact, in almost every category imaginable, things have gotten noticeably worse.
Speaking on the “The Prof G Pod” podcast with host Scott Galloway Thursday, the exquisitely coiffed governor pinned the blame for the homelessness crisis on local Democrats, barely acknowledging that as the leader of the state, he’s been a disaster on the issue. Remember this?
Year 16 of Gavin Newsom’s 10-year plan to end homelessness & 24 billion dollars later. pic.twitter.com/hBKlgNTb2c
— The Real Daniel 🇺🇸 (@TheReal_DMartin) June 1, 2026
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who’s in a tough primary with Palisades fire victim Spencer Pratt, must have been pretty ticked off by this answer. “Way to throw me to the wolves, Gav,” she must have thought:
On the “The Prof G Pod” podcast, Galloway pointed to Los Angeles as an example [of failure]: “LA does feel like as a proxy for — if Democrats can’t figure out a way to run cities and operate them well, we’re just going to have trouble across the whole federal stack in terms of elections.” [True dat.]
While Newsom said that progress has been made in California, he admitted it has not been visible or felt as much as it should. [In fairness, he did admit in February to being a poor student.]
“The ultimate manifestation of that failure, the byproduct of the affordability crisis, what’s happening as it relates to street homelessness,” he said. “Unsheltered homelessness, encampments in particular, the permissiveness particularly that came at peak during and after COVID as it relates to tents out on the streets and sidewalks, the quality of life, the diminution of quality of life and this notion that we couldn’t do anything about it.” [Wait, is this a Steve Hilton ad or what?]
You mean all that failure that occurred under your reign? Where’s that $24 billion, Governor? You better hope that Republican Steve Hilton doesn’t get elected in November as your replacement:
Day 1: My first Executive Order as governor.
Establishing the Taxpayer Fraud Strike Force to bring accountability for $425 billion stolen from taxpayers on Gavin Newsom’s watch.
It will investigate whether Newsom was criminally negligent, and prosecute if warranted. pic.twitter.com/NaMBtf4z4H
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) June 1, 2026
MORE: I’ve Lived in California for 3 Decades — and I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This (VIP)
Gavin Newsom Claimed California’s Deficit Was Gone. His State’s Own Budget Analysts Just Blew That Up.
But wait, it’s Gavin Newsom we’re talking about here, so he had plenty more gaslighting. Is this answer preposterous or what?
“Somehow we were applying the standard that it was compassionate to step over people in the streets and the sidewalks in the name of, you know, their personal liberty,” he said. “When, in fact, the degradation of the communities, the businesses that were impacted by that, the family structure — you know, mom that just wants to walk his or her kid down to the playground, or in the stroller — was outraged and furious and didn’t trust government.”
Yes, but that’s what conservatives and concerned residents have been yelling to the hilltops about for years, and yet all you did was issue some obnoxious tweets from your press office and slam anybody who called out the problems.
The emotional governor is angered by the failure, but seemingly not at himself:
“And so it is the issue that defines people’s angers. It’s the issue that defines my anger as governor,” Newsom added.
No, it’s not the definition of your anger; it’s the definition of you.
Here comes the capper:
For the first time in close to two decades, Scott — no other governor has been able to say this in decades — we’ve seen almost a double-digit decrease in unsheltered homeless in the state of California.
Bwaa ha ha! Time for ye olde “readers added context” community note on X:
This is a giant lie that requires you to ignore the fact that net homelessness is still way up under Newsom; it declined in the last two years, which is also when Guess Who started deporting people https://t.co/j28iMpVB5b
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) May 26, 2026
Newsom waxed poetic about much more, including how he thought residents lost trust in government during COVID (yes, because you locked my kids at home for freaking two years while you dined out at expensive restaurants), and thinks the Democrat supermajority in the state is a disaster:
“You know, I think the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is we’re perceived, rightfully, as too slow, weak, and ineffective,” he said. “We got to be more aggressive, stronger, more assertive, more clear, more conviction.”
You wouldn’t know a conviction if it hit you in the face, Mr. “Boys playing in girls’ sports is deeply unfair but I’ll do absolutely nothing about it while a dude racks up wins at the state track championship.” For normal people, this entire podcast would be a brutal self-own, but Newsom is not self-aware enough and is too convinced of his own fabulous virtue to comprehend that.
Instead, he’ll almost surely be asking you in the near future to vote for him as America’s next president. Now that is a terrible thought indeed.
Watch if you enjoy self-induced pain:
Editor’s Note: Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass, and the “progressives” are ruining California.
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