Free Republic

Mark Twain is rightly considered one of America's best and most beloved writers. His first commercial success was a short story about the California Gold Rush titled The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Published in 1865, it highlighted people's extraordinary gullibility when a tale is told well enough, and the storyteller can charm his listeners into believing anything. That's a description of the current governor of California and possible next Democratic Party presidential candidate. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a natural when he ran for governor in 2018. It was like he walked off a movie set and into...

As Kamala Harris uses California Highway Patrol officers as her security detail, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration will not release records or provide information on how much it's costing taxpayers. As KCRA 3 first reported in February, dozens of CHP officers have been assigned to Kamala Harris and her international book tour. In response to a California Public Records Act request submitted by KCRA 3 earlier this month, the California Highway Patrol confirmed on Monday that it has records related to the situation, but will not release them, citing a section of state law that protects law enforcement and security-related records....

Democrats have allowed the craziest wing of the Party to lead on messaging and policy In 2025 Democrats’ approval ratings were in the tank. Remember? CNN’s Harry Enten warned in July 2025 of Democrats’ plummeting approval ratings. He said a blue wave is far from a guarantee in the fall 2026 midterms, and warned that Americans still trust Republicans more than Democrats on issues. The Democratic Party’s approval rating is “lower than the Dead Sea,” Enten even said. Enten said “the seat-by-seat landscape in the House isn’t the most appealing for Democrats. Both the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom teared up Wednesday when announcing an expansion of the state’s Service Corps geared at recruiting young men. “Forgive me, this is embarrassing,” he said, as his eyes welled. “All the noise, we just need to turn off. Listen to this, this is it,” he continued while wiping tears off his face. “We’re all just sitting there, screaming and yelling at each other, everybody’s getting at each other’s throats, trying to tear everybody down, and how are we going to get out of this? This is it,” he went on. The governor’s teary showcase was in response...

Gavin Newsom, the California governor leading the suit against Donald Trump, criticized Benjamin Netanyahu. Newsom said he is “one hundred percent a proud Zionist” but cannot support the direction Netanyahu ..

Republican House Oversight Committee members announced that the committee had launched an investigation into claims of hospice fraud in California. “Despite clear red flags, it appears California leaders have enabled hospice providers to DEFRAUD hardworking American taxpayers,” Chairman James Comer wrote on X. “The House Oversight Committee is moving to protect taxpayer funds from waste, fraud, and abuse.” The outrage started in January when Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said California owed over $1 billion in Medicaid funds improperly used for health care for illegal aliens.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised Elon Musk as this generation's Thomas Edison — then accused the Tesla CEO of surrendering the electric vehicle market to China. "It breaks my heart," Newsom said on a new episode of "The Axios Show," describing Musk as "one of the great disappointments" of our time. Why it matters: China already holds 70% of the global EV market. Newsom argues Musk — the man who pioneered America's EV industry — is now accelerating that dominance by pivoting Tesla toward robotics. "I think this is Trump, not just Elon Musk," Newsom added, referring to the administration's...

Oil giant Chevron will begin purchasing oil from Sable Offshore Corp., the Houston-based company announced Tuesday. The dramatic move comes amid a legal battle between California and the Trump administration. The petroleum corporation plans to purchase an initial 20,000 barrels of oil per day from offshore platforms near Santa Barbara, just weeks after the federal government approved the restart of production, Bloomberg reported. The move is a boost for Sable, which has faced strong environmental opposition to resuming operations in California waters. “We’re going to run Sable’s crude at El Segundo in April,” Chevron executive Andy Walz told the outlet,...

Leading Candidates: Former VP Kamala Harris tops with 31%, followed by Gavin Newsom 16%, Pete Buttigieg 7%, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 6%. 18% of respondents are undecided.

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman criticized Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for attacking YouTuber Nick Shirley during a Wednesday “All-In Podcast” episode. Shortly after Shirley released a Monday video in which he claimed to document over $170 million in taxpayer fraud in California, Newsom’s press office X account posted a cartoon image of the YouTuber at a daycare, asking to see the children there. On the podcast, Fetterman appeared to reference the post, and accused Newsom of implying Shirley was a pedophile and suggested the governor should seek common ground with the YouTuber on reducing fraud. “Why can’t you celebrate...

A California pedophile imprisoned for a horrific string of sex crimes could soon walk free after being granted parole under a controversial law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Gregory Lee Vogelsang, 57, has been granted early release thanks to a 2020 law that offers parole to “elderly” convicts 50 and older who have served 20 or more years in prison. Vogelsang molested several children in the ’90s in the Sacramento area before being convicted on dozens of felony counts, including a lewd act on a child, kidnapping a child to commit a lewd act, and lewd act on a...

As gas prices continue climbing in California — already the highest in the nation — residents are increasingly venting their frustration at Gov. Gavin Newsom, accusing him and Sacramento of piling on policies and “taxing us to death.” The backlash centers on draft regulations tied to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program, overseen by the California Air Resources Board, which sets a statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions and requires major polluters to purchase allowances for each ton of carbon they emit. Critics say tightening those caps — strongly backed by Newsom — could further drive up the cost of gasoline and...

Couric: Do you have a Zoolander problem? Are you just ridiculously good looking as Vogue said? What do you do about that? Newsom: You don’t do anything about it…It’s just who I am. Good. Lord.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his administration is monitoring and preparing for the impacts the war in Iran could have on the state's public safety and gas prices.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom received intense blowback for calling the joint US-Israeli airstrikes in Iran an “illegal, dangerous war” while ripping President Trump’s decision to attack Tehran.. “The corrupt and repressive Iranian regime must never have nuclear weapons. The leadership of Iran must go,” Newsom wrote on X Saturday, after the US and Israel launched the coordinated strikes early that morning. “But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people. "President Trump is...

Thousands of California’s convicted pedophiles have been released from prison Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “elderly parole program” Monday, which is allowing David Funston, a serial child rapist to be released from prison. Funston terrorized Sacramento neighborhoods by luring very young children with candy. He kidnapped, brutalized and raped children as young as age 3, then would toss them to the side of the road when he was done. A judge called him “the monster parents fear the most.” Thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Funston will be on the streets again. And now Gavin Newsom is...

They make Jeffrey Epstein look like Mother Teresa. Even while Epstein drama is consuming the country, David Allen Funston is being set loose. Funston became notorious for luring children as young as four years old in Sacramento into his car with candy and dolls then raping them. A little girl had a knife held to her throat while he raped her so badly she bled. One 5-year-old girl was raped, beaten and left by the side of the road. He raped a little boy and kidnapped two sisters, 4 and 5, before he was finally stopped. Funston was known as...

Since January 2026, sanctuary policies under Newsom have led to the release of 4,561 criminal illegal aliens into California communities In a blistering statement released Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned California Governor Gavin Newsom for pardoning Somboon Phaymany, a Cambodian national and illegal alien convicted of attempted murder and assault with a firearm — crimes that stripped him of his green card and triggered a final order of removal. ABSOLUTE INSANITY. Gavin Newsom pardoned an illegal alien convicted of ATTEMPTED MURDER. Somboon Phaymany lost his green card following his conviction for attempted murder and assault with...

Feb 23, 2026

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been accused of racism after citing his underwhelming SAT score during a chat with a black elected official over the weekend. “I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, ‘I’m like you. I’m not better than you.’ I’m a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom told Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens during a Sunday night event promoting his forthcoming memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry”. “And I’m not trying to offend anyone,” the potential 2028 Democratic contender went on. “I’m not trying to act all there if you got 940 … You’ve never...