Newsom's Shadow Campaign
In recent weeks, the whispers have become deafening: Gavin Newsom is setting himself up to run for President if Joe Biden fails to get out of the starting gate.
Newsom spent the Fourth of July campaigning in Oregon and Idaho. He’s launched a "28th Amendment" gun control initiative as an excuse to build a campaign infrastructure. He joined Truth Social and went on Hannity. Every stunt has the same goal: attention.
As we know, few things would be more disastrous for our country. Yet Newsom’s gameplan is already clear: to conjure up an alternate reality in hopes of distracting from what he’s done to California. For example:
He talks constantly about phantom "book bans" in other states, but never mentions that our own state has the lowest literacy rate in the country.
He calls the California Exodus a "Fox News myth," even as data shows we are on track to lose five congressional seats in the next Census.
He goes on rants against "big oil" in hopes we won’t notice he just raised the gas tax another 8 percent.
He's invented a "red state murder problem" to distract from the major increase in violent crime just announced by his own Attorney General.
He calls California a "model for the nation" even as officials in LA and the Bay area just visited Texas for ideas on homelessness.
Such delusions will be aided and abetted by the media and powerful interests. It will be up to us to expose the truth. We must be prepared to sink any Newsom campaign the moment it begins – just as we’ve derailed the nomination of his acolyte, Julie Su, for U.S. Labor Secretary.
Meanwhile, I return to D.C. on Tuesday, and we hit the ground running. Wednesday morning FBI Director Christopher Wray will appear before the Judiciary Committee.
Kevin Kiley
California Congressman