Free Republic

Longtime journalist Katie Couric asked if Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., had a problem with being "ridiculously good-looking." During an interview on Couric's "Next Question" podcast released Thursday, the former "Today" co-host remarked on how Newsom has been described as "slick" and whether that was a reference to his hairstyle. Newsom acknowledged that the comments had caused him to play into a "character." "Do you have a 'Zoolander' problem?" Couric asked, referencing the 2001 Ben Stiller comedy. After Newsom began laughing at the comment, she followed, "Are you just ridiculously good-looking, as Vogue said? No, seriously. What do you do about...

Gov. Gavin Newsom grinned like Cheshire at civil rights icon Jesse Jackson’s public memorial service Friday – treating it as a campaign event as the rumored 2028 presidential hopeful schmoozed with Democratic heavyweights including Presidents Obama and Clinton. The California governor was pictured working the room and snapping selfies with Democratic party elites, as thousands of people gathered at a church on Chicago’s South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson. In one telling moment, Obama, who was front row at the event, turned around and pointed directly at Newsom, who’s also been on the publicity trail for...

In 2008, Californians voted on what they were told would be a modern transportation system — a sleek, high-speed rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours, financed in part by private investment, delivered at a defined cost, and built within a reasonable timeframe. Eighteen years later, all that has been delivered is one of the largest eminent domain land grabs in modern history. No serious person disputes that infrastructure requires land. But the power of eminent domain is not merely an administrative tool. It is among the most formidable powers government possesses: the authority to...

The California governor made the remarks at an event to promote his new memoir, 'Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery.'California Governor Gavin Newsom compared Israel to an “apartheid state” and questioned future U.S. military support for the country. Speaking on stage at an event to promote his new memoir, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, Newsom, who is widely expected to enter the 2028 presidential race, was asked by Pod Save America host Jon Favreau about the U.S.-Israel relationship and whether it should be reconsidered. “It breaks my heart, because the current leadership in...

The majority approved language that would replace the elected Controller’s role with an appointed CFO, potentially stripping away independent oversightIn a move that has ignited fierce backlash, the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission voted 9-2 on Thursday to advance a proposal that would effectively eliminate the independent City Controller’s office, shifting its core functions—including audits, accounting, payments, revenue forecasting, and fraud investigations—to a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) appointed by Mayor Karen Bass and accountable to the City Council. This reform, framed by supporters as a consolidation of financial operations to address the city’s ongoing budget crisis, comes just weeks...

A federal lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday aimed at cracking down on alleged fraud within a federal program that paid for dead people’s phone and internet service. Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is targeting the federal Lifeline program, which subsidizes the services for low-income Americans, after California was accused of taking in $3.8 million between 2020 and 2025 to cover the costs for 94,000 dead people. “While Californians are taxed to the grave and back, its governor especially can’t pass the buck when the state is allowing providers to enroll dead people in a federal program,” Ernst told The Post. A...

The former head of a San Francisco homelessness organization appeared in court on Tuesday after being accused of misappropriating $1.2 million and stealing $91,000 in public funds, the latest in a string of city nonprofit spending scandals in recent years. Gwendolyn Westbrook, who served as the CEO of the United Council of Human Services for two decades, faces nine felony charges related to the misuse and theft of city funds. She was booked into county jail late Monday and later posted bail. “Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” said...

Poor Gavin Newsom. Who knew he grew up poor, had to hustle to stay alive, resorting to Wonder Bread and Mac-n-Cheese for meals, according to his latest guest appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast? Most poor families back in the 1970’s and 1980’s ate generic, day-old store-brand bread, discounted canned soup and meats, and government cheese. I knew skinny poor kids. Here is the “All the Smoke” podcast: Notice during the podcast video Newsom slips into some street slang, claiming “It was about payin’ the bills, man.” “Wonder bread and Mac ‘n cheese. That’s how I grew up, bro.”...

Gov. Newsom to a black crowd in GA: "I am like you. I'm a 960 SAT guy. I can't read." Video at link.

LATEST Feb. 18, 12:45 p.m. The CEO of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority is on voluntary leave after an arrest earlier this month at his Sacramento-area home, multiple outlets reported. Politico and the Los Angeles Times both reported that the rail authority confirmed Ian Choudri’s leave. The rail authority did not respond to SFGATE’s inquiry. “While CEO Choudri has informed the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board that he is not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing, he has voluntarily agreed to take a temporary leave to allow the Board and our parent agency, the California State Transportation Agency, to fully review...

Wall Street Apes@WallStreetApes7h WOW 🚨 California is tracking down former residents and making sure they actually left to try and collect taxesCalifornia is demanding full details on their move down to the vehicle used and moving invoices“How you know the state of California is hurting. This is the letter they just sent me — Please provide a brief narrative of events and circumstances surrounding you becoming a non-resident of California with your response. Provide the specific move out dates as it was not reported.7 years ago, California 540 non-resident return for each shipment of households, personal vehicle, Etc. Items from...

A new state bill aims to shield certain information about California’s High-Speed Rail project from the public. Supporters say it’s about protecting sensitive records, but critics think it puts the brakes on transparency. ... [O]pponents...say the project is too costly. They note the state has already spent about $15 billion on it over the last decade and a half, while the total cost projections for the full project have ballooned from the original $45 billion estimate presented to voters in 2008 to anywhere between $88 billion-$128 billion today. Inside California Politics Correspondent Eytan Wallace reports a new state bill would...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) reportedly wants to push California Gov. Gavin Newsom as the 2028 Democratic nominee for president. Sources close to Pelosi told Axios that the Democratic Party leader has been pushing Newsom for 2028 behind closed doors, given that the two have been working together, going back to his days as San Francisco mayor. “Pelosi has one of the strongest donor networks in Democratic politics. She’s been a key validator for Newsom as he’s emerged on the national stage and become one of President Trump’s most visible foes,” noted Axios. …

For the second time in three weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom has abandoned California to fly to Europe and schmooze with world leaders at the Munich Security Conference. The White House and the governor’s political adversaries have brutally dismissed Newsom’s three-day trip as wasteful showboating. Newsom has been accused of ignoring California’s growing list of problems to peacock around at the talkfest being held in two five-star hotels in Munich – while bashing America and President Trump. “Gavin Newscum’s travels to Davos and Munich would be considered a vanity project if anyone there actually knew or cared who he was,” White...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on world leaders attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany to think about a future without President Donald Trump. Newsom's comments on climate policy reflected the larger theme of his message for Europe. "I hope if there is nothing else I communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He'll be gone in three years," Newsom said. He added, "It's important for folks to understand the temporary nature of this current administration in relationship to the issue of climate change and climate policy." He slammed the Trump administration's rollback of the 2009 "endangerment finding" and accused the...

California is committed to funding reproductive health care, pledging money to Planned Parenthood after federal funds were stripped from its clinics. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to provide $90 million in one-time emergency funds for Planned Parenthood and other women's health providers. President Trump's tax bill cut off Medicaid funding to abortion providers across the U.S. in July. Last week, Planned Parenthood said at least 23 of its health clinics have been forced to close, including one location in Madera. …

In his famous 20th century novel "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway’s character, Mike Campbell, was asked by a friend how his financial ruin had happened. Campbell replied to the question simply, "Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly." Just a cursory look at today’s headlines and one can see this very idea of "gradually and then suddenly" playing out in the fiscal health of many blue states. California, the poster child for a state heading down the road to financial ruin, is slated to lose four congressional seats in the 2030 census due to population loss. Moreover, major companies such...

The state can require federal agents to display identification, the judge said. The Trump administration had asked the court to block both laws, which were designed to help identify federal agents. A federal judge on Monday said that California could not prohibit federal law enforcement agents from wearing face masks unless it amended the law to also apply to state agents. But the judge did allow the state to require federal agents to display identification. Judge Christina A. Snyder of the Federal District Court in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction against the mask ban, ruling that California’s new law...

$16 billion and still no train and no track 18 years later California Governor Gavin Newsom and the state’s elected Democrat politicians show a strange level of desperation to build any part of California’s boondoggle High-Speed Rail system. $16 billion has already been spent on the High Speed Rail project, originally slated to be completed in 2020. But there is no track and no trains, and a missing $16 billion. A quick refresher on California’s High Speed Rail project: In 2008, California voters approved the Proposition 1A bond initiative, authorizing $9 billion in bond money for the construction of a...

Construction on part of the High-Speed Rail project came to a halt on Wednesday as crews battled a fire at the Church Avenue overpass in southeast Fresno. "There's a lot of plywood and lumber that's involved in this," Josh Sellers with Fresno Fire said. Workers, all unharmed, watched as firefighters attacked from above. "We have the railroad tracks here that we ended up having to close down and stop the trains because we have a ladder truck in place that's blocking the tracks," Sellers said.