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...

California is a cash machine. The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year. And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones. And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of basic necessities like groceries and gas, even as the state spends billions on welfare programs that never seem to lift anyone out of poverty. Where is all this...

Gavin Newsom is reflecting on the long-term grief he dealt with after witnessing his mother end her life through assisted death, also referred to as death with dignity. Newsom was a 34-year-old rising politician at the time and told the outlet that he felt guilty that his busy schedule kept him distant as his mom suffered from the disease. But when the day arrived, he and his sister Hilary were by Tessa’s side. “I hated her for it — to be there for the last breath — for years,” he said. “I want to say it was a beautiful experience....

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest wiffle-waffle messaging on Israel is the Democratic Party’s problem in a nutshell: Even while support for the Palestinian people is now at a two-decade high, party leadership simply cannot get in tune with voters.

He lives here, he lives here not. Instead of plucking daisy petals, let’s reason it out. Does Rep. Eric Swalwell live with his wife and kids in a posh spread near the Capitol they bought for $1.2 million in 2020? Or does the wannabe gov reside in one rented room in Livermore, Calif. — not far from swanky hotels he frequents — in the district he represents? With fraud a hot issue in California, Swalwell’s approach seems to fit right in. But should he be governor? (The SEIU, which just endorsed Swalwell, seems to think so –– which means he...

A California appeals court backed a child who wrote “any life” and innocently drew the thumbprints of her friends under “Black Lives Matter” in a picture at school, which she was later punished for. A lower court previously backed the child’s school principal, Jesus Becerra, who worked at Viejo Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California.

California allows ‘elderly prisoners’ out if they are 50 California Governor Gavin Newsom’s parole board has just granted parole to yet another vile, violent child sexual predator from Sacramento, courtesy of Newsom’s elderly parole law. According to former Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Gregory Vogelsang, 57, kidnapped, lured and molested five young children, one as young as 3 years old. Vogelsang was sentenced to 355 years to life for sexually assaulting children. A jury convicted him of 23 counts of forcible lewd acts on young boys, Schubert reports. Last month, Gavin Newsom was facing calls to resign his office...

A hotel near Venice Beach that the city bought to transform into homeless housing remains empty after years of drawn-out delays and a ballooning budget. The former Ramada Inn on Washington Avenue has sat mostly vacant since 2020 as officials have scrambled to secure permits, subsidies and construction financing. Now the price tag for the stalled project is approaching $20 million, after the city plunked down a relatively paltry $8 million for the property in 2020.

In a desperate bid to stop Tinseltown from trekking to cheaper pastures, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is taking a chainsaw to the red tape and high costs of filming at some of the city’s most famous landmarks. Bass announced last week that the city will slash filming fees at the iconic Griffith Observatory by 70% — dropping the daily price tag from $100,000 to a more manageable $30,000. The move effectively rolls back costs to 2008 levels, signaling a massive retreat from the 2022 fee hikes that may have helped drive production out of state.

There’s little doubt that the wealthy are closely linked to savvy tax maneuvers. Montana offers famously friendly vehicle registration laws that allow some to avoid paying far more in other states. It’s come under fire plenty of times in the past as have those who leverage the so-called “Montana license plate loophole”. Now, California says it’s charged 14 individuals tied to more than $20 million worth of vehicles that were were allegedly registered and plated out of state, despite actually spending their lives in California.

During an interview with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) told the Black mayor and mostly Black audience "I'm like you. I can't read. I'm a 960 SAT guy--you know, the kind of guy who's a 'C' student on his good days. I'd be the perfect president to represent your interests. I wish I was Black so you'd believe me." Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) took offense, saying "You're not like us. Black folks have built empires, created movements, outworked, out-hustled and outsmarted people like you. Stop using your mediocre academics as a way to patronize us." Newsom defended...

ATLANTA, GA — While speaking at the Rialto Center for the Arts as part of promotion for his new memoir, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, California Governor Gavin Newsom wowed a black audience by putting some hot sauce into his purple drank. "See? I'm exactly like you," Newsom said. "It doesn't get more delicious than some hot sauce in your purple drank, am I right? This isn't pandering. Back home, we call this drink a 'Newsom.'" The audience was surprised by the governor's choice of drink and unsure whether or not he was being genuine. Newsom...

Feb 23, 2026

As national Democrats search for a unifying theme ahead of the fall’s midterm elections, a California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party’s leading figures into adversaries just when Democrats can least afford division from within. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to campaign for the tax proposal, which has Silicon Valley in an uproar, with tech titans threatening to leave the state. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is among its outspoken opponents, warning that it could leave government finances in crisis and put the state at a competitive disadvantage...

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...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In a letter sent to Governor Gavin Newsom and other California officials this week, energy giant Chevron expressed its concerns over possible changes to state regulations. "They're setting us up to fail and making sure that imported products will be cheaper and more available to California consumers than in-state production," said Chevron spokesperson Ross Allen. Allen says the company is worried about proposed amendments to the state's cap-and-invest regulations, which set a limit on pollution and force companies to invest some revenue into cleaner energy. The regulations are created by the California Air Resources Board. "The...

Sensing that the combined US/Israeli attack on Iran presented him with an opportunity to boost his foreign policy credentials heading into to anticipated run for president in 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) asserted "the corrupt and repressive Iranian regime must never have nuclear weapons. The leadership of Iran must go. 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. President Trump is putting Americans at risk abroad because he is unpopular at home." Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said "the...

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.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled California is likely violating the constitutional rights of parents who object to policies preventing teachers from disclosing when their child changes their name or pronouns in school. The decision marks a major victory for parental rights advocates at this early stage of the case — and a blow to the state’s efforts to shield the privacy of LGBTQ students.

Team Gavin Newsom could not resist a cheap shot against President Trump following the bombing of Iran, and it promptly blew up in their faces. As The Gateway Pundit reported, the United States and Israel launched ‘Operation Epic Fury’ against Iran over the weekend. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was eliminated in a joint military operation conducted by Israel and the United States this weekend. At least 40 other senior Iranian regime leaders were also killed in the strikes. Several Democrats predictably condemned the attack. Not surprisingly, Newsom was one of them. Following the bombing, Newsom’s team slammed Trump...