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In his State of the Union address, Newsom juxtaposed footage of his encounter with National Guard troops accused of interdicting illegal drugs to contrast with Republican efforts to quash immigration reform.
Source: YouTube / Governor's Office
In his pre-recorded State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom drew a sharp contrast between California and red-state America, ominously warning that the state's values and status as a “beacon of hope” are “under attack.”
“Powers threaten the pluralism, spirit of innovation and diversity that are the foundations of California’s success,” he said. To emphasize his own points, he liberally juxtaposed images of himself throughout his 28-minute speech. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing an abortion ban with Newsom embracing an LGBTQ marcher at a pride rally; Headlines from congressional Republicans rejecting bipartisan immigration reform, with National Guard members Newsom deploying to the border to block fentanyl.
This partisan, political discourse came two days before the first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump and five months before the general election, which Newsom called “another special moment in history.” In his unofficial role as Biden's apparent deputy, Newsom emphasized the importance of re-electing the president for Californians.
“For generations, we have advocated for advancements that advocate for women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, protect the environment, and expand civil rights,” he said. “Conservatives and delusional California thugs want to roll back social progress, social justice, racial justice, economic justice, clean air, clean water and basic fairness.”
But Newsom's speech primarily defended and praised the “California way” and his administration's accomplishments, including strengthening innovation and job creation, keeping drugs at the border, reducing crime, expanding environmental protections and providing shelter for the homeless.
He pointed to Delta Transit's progress in converting former hotels and apartments into 15,300 homes while eliminating 9,300 unsafe homeless encampments and protecting our water supply, “the largest climate resilience project in the country.” California is leading the electric vehicle industry and new industries to combat climate change, he said.
Critics have described California's cities as lawless dystopias, but the governor said the state's violent crime rate has fallen to half its 1992 peak. California has a lower murder rate than 29 other states, including Florida and Texas, he said. He believes California's gun safety laws are to blame, arguing that if the state maintained California's murder rate, 140,000 more Americans would be spared.
Newsom rarely spoke about education, but pointed to the expansion of after-school and summer programs for low-income schools and the creation of community schools — a $4 billion initiative he protected from possible cuts — as accomplishments. At the community school, students will receive family support, free meals and tutoring, he said.
He also mentioned hiring and training state-funded literacy coaches in high-poverty schools, establishing universal transition kindergarten, a new grade for four-year-olds, and possible screening for all young students starting next year. Introduces a new state-supported multilingual screening program while addressing learning challenges, including dyslexia.
He boasted that these K-12 initiatives constitute “some of the most innovative policies in our state’s history and some of the most important policies in our country.”
Newsom said California had acted “to protect students' rights to learn and teachers' rights to teach,” in a vague reference to the state's efforts to stop conservative school boards from censoring social studies textbooks and novels in school libraries.
He said California's strengths lie in its demographic and thought diversity. “It's a weird, wild, free-spirited California. It's a place where you can elect Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown back to back.”
“We are building a nation that continues to change the world,” Newsom said, through revolutions in farm worker rights, free speech, love, computing and biotechnology.
At a press conference held outside the Capitol an hour after the speech was published, Republican leaders offered a completely different counterargument.
“We have out-of-control crime and out-of-control inflation,” said state Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber). He said, “We invested $24 billion for homelessness and it actually increased homelessness. For the first time in state history, we have deployed CHP (California Highway Patrol) to Oakland, San Francisco and Bakersfield to combat crime.”
“Republicans in California have not had control of a statewide office or legislative office in decades, so (Gavin Newsom) needs to look in the mirror and understand that he is running the state properly,” Dahle said.
House Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said Newsom was “insensitive” for diverting attention from his own performance by attacking Republicans in Congress.
“Let me tell you what the state is doing right now. There’s a husband and wife sitting around the kitchen table with their heads in their hands trying to figure out how they’re going to pay their bills.” Gallagher said. “Parents are afraid to send their children to the local park because they are afraid they will be attacked. There is human destruction happening on the streets of every city. People are homeless and lost.
“The problem has gotten worse since Governor Gavin Newsom became governor,” he said.
Newsom had planned to give a State of the State address in March, but postponed it pending the results of Proposition 1, which he supported in the March primary. The initiative, which passed narrowly, provided $6.4 billion to help Californians facing chronic homelessness and mental health or substance abuse issues.