Gavin Newsom Issues Inaccurate Press Release On LA Riots, Refuses To Correct It

California Governor Gavin Newsom just can't stop blaming everyone else for his own mistakes.

Newsom's tenure over the country's biggest state has been, without question, an abject disaster. He turned the state into an authoritarian nightmare during the COVID-19 pandemic, mandating masks, lockdowns, school closures and COVID vaccines, all policies that accomplished nothing to stop the spread of the virus while causing immense damage to the general public.

As if that wasn't enough to push people out, cost of living increases in California during his tenure have been extreme, pushing an already expensive state over the edge. Sure enough, for the first time ever, more people left the Golden State than moved in. Then the LA fires hit. 

Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demonstrated their extreme incompetence, lack of preparation and woeful inadequacy as leaders, watching two cities effectively burn to the ground. 

And now there's riots. 

Downtown Los Angeles, and several other neighborhoods in the LA area, have faced rioting, violence, vandalism and property destruction since late last week. And Newsom, yet again, has found time to point the finger for his mismanagement at everyone but himself. In fact, a recent post from his press office contained a spectacular inaccuracy, blaming President Donald Trump for rioters destroying property in LA and attempting to kill law enforcement officers, by misleading the public about the timing of the riots. 

Even better, when OutKick asked his office about it, it doubled down.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Gavin Newsom Doubles Down On Misinformation

The Department of Defense justifiably posted about Newsom and California's failure to contain the rioting, saying that "Los Angeles is burning, and local leaders are refusing to respond."

This is inarguably true. Newsom, Bass, and local leadership have chosen to encourage the rioters instead of taking a firm stand and working with federal leadership to end the destruction. But Newsom's press office chose to blame Trump instead of taking responsibility.

"The Department of Defense is lying to the American people," Newsom's press office post read. "The situation became escalated when THEY deployed troops. Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming tensions. He clearly can't solve this, so California will."

That is a spectacular, purposeful lie. The National Guard was deployed because the situation had escalated. Because Newsom and Bass refused to do anything about it. 

As Vice President JD Vance posted on X Tuesday, violence and destruction started well before the National Guard got to LA. 

That's just one of many examples; as John Ekdahl pointed out on X, the federal facility in LA had been attacked by rioters before the National Guard was sent in. 

Truth and fact has never been Newsom's strong suit. But when OutKick contacted Brandon Richards, a Deputy Communications Director for Newsom, his only response was to link to a story proving Newsom's release false.

Richards sent a link to a local news story saying that the National Guard had not yet reached LA when Trump thanked them for their service. Trump may have been wrong, but that doesn't make Newsom right. On the one hand, they're saying the situation only escalated when the National Guard was called in, then on the other hand, they're saying the National Guard hadn't arrived yet when there was rioting. Sounds like Newsom.

When OutKick followed up to ask if the governor was unaware of the timing or was purposefully lying, Richards did not respond. 

Again, there was violence, rioting, property destruction and attacks on federal buildings and law enforcement before the National Guard was called up. Newsom and Bass refused to act. Then, seizing the opportunity to push blame onto Trump, they started misleading the public about who was to blame. And they won't correct the record. Nor will they do anything to stop the destruction of downtown LA by their supporters. 

Welcome to California.