California Gov. Gavin Newsom is being slammed for ignoring the needs of people in his own state in an attempt to one-up President Donald Trump.
The Democrat kicked off a four-day trip to El Salvador on Sunday to present himself as an alternative voice on immigration as he insulted the president and his “demoralizing” rhetoric about the Central American nation, Fox News reported.
“Gavin Newsom should spend less time raising his national profile and more time in California serving the people who elected him,” Matt Fleming, spokesman for the California Republican Party, said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “With millions of Californians living in poverty and millions more crushed by a skyrocketing cost of living and a worsening housing crisis, we need someone focused on our state.”
Republican state Assemblyman Devon Mathis also thinks Newsom, who was just elected governor in November, should have focused on the “crushing poverty” in his own backyard.
“The tragic circumstances that drive migrants from their homes should remind us that we have people living in crushing poverty in our own communities. Our attention and resources should be focused there,” he said in a statement.
I wish the Governor would visit Assembly District 26! We have many issues that I’d love for him to see first hand! So much here in California that needs his attention. https://t.co/coivIYRHV1
— Devon J Mathis (@AD26Mathis) April 5, 2019
Newsom’s trip, which immediately followed Trump’s visit to a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in California on Friday, was touted as a “fact-finding” mission to understand what is fueling migration to the U.S. The governor has been vocally critical of the president and denounced his recent decision to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
“Right now you have a president that talks down to people, talks past them, demoralizing folks living here and their relatives in the United States,” Newsom told reporters, according to Fox News. “I think it’s important to let folks know that’s not our country — that’s an individual in our country who happens at this moment to be president.”
The Democrat explained why, just three months into office, he chose to travel to El Salvador from his home state which houses the largest – nearly 680,000 – Salvadoran immigrant population in the U.S.
“How do you understand California without understanding all the diverse cultures that make it the most diverse state in the world’s most diverse democracy?” he told reporters. “It’s fundamental, it seems to me, to governing a state. That’s why I’m here in my first months, not at the end of my term.”
The governor lit a candle and kneeled to pray at the tomb of civil rights leader Saint Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran priest assassinated in 1980.
CA Gov @GavinNewsom, First Partner @JenSiebelNewsom & Assemblywoman @wendycarrillo of LA light candles in honor of Saint Oscar Romero at Romero’s tomb in San Salvador pic.twitter.com/bCxN9r3lxb
— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation) April 7, 2019
Newsom was set to meet with President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, U.S. Ambassador Jean Manes and President-elect Nayib Bukele during his tour and was praised by San Salvador Mayor Ernesto Muyshondt.
Peace is not the product of terror or fear…
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.
Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism.
Peace is generosity.
It is right and it is duty. – Saint Óscar Romero pic.twitter.com/It5Ip4EEP3— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 8, 2019
“I think if he gets a good feel of our country, our challenges and opportunities, he can be a good spokesman,” he told reporters, according to the Sacremento Bee.
But according to KPBS, views on Newsom’s “firsts” differ depending on what side of the political divide is reacting.
The first time Newsom has left the United States in his official capacity as governor. The first time any California leader has taken an official trip to the Central American republic, or justified travel abroad as a fact-finding mission to learn more about a refugee crisis.
And the expedition doubles as Rorschach test. Depending on whom you ask, it’s either a gubernatorial study-abroad trip, a humanitarian and diplomatic mission befitting the state’s status as the world’s fifth-biggest economy, or pure grandstanding on a global scale.
But critics rightly argue that the U.S. president is responsible for international immigration, not the California Democrat who is blatantly “boosting his anti-Trump cred.”
“I’ve got areas in my district that are flooding,” Assemblyman Mathis said. “Not in Central America. Come see the central San Joaquin Valley….Come down to where we have Third World conditions.”
Asked about Newsom’s criticism of his asylum policies, Trump said the governor is “living in a different world.”
The governor’s El Salvador trip was reportedly being paid for by the California State Protocol Foundation and other non-profits, according to KPBS. That foundation received $1.7 million in donations from business, labor and other interests over former Gov. Jerry Brown’s two terms in office.
It seems many California residents and other Twitter users agreed that the governor needed to focus on the many ills plaguing his own state before figuring out what was causing El Salvador’s problems.
Is California Governor Gavin Newsom listening to what’s taking place here in California and Calexico? Or is he still in South America bootlicking ‘figuring out’ migrants?
I don’t know who Newsom talked to at his California border visit last week but he looks like a fool today.
— Kambree Kawahine Koa (@KamVTV) April 5, 2019
He’s a lying idiot who doesn’t care about California or the people in California. His agenda is to fight Trump as the others are. Newsome needs to be impeached. He’s not doing his job. California is a mess.
— Sandy Baker (@sandyb432) April 6, 2019
Today California politicians banned travel to South Carolina for its “anti-gay” laws. Same idiots also applaud Gov. Gavin Newsom for traveling to El Salvador to stand in solidarity with that country.
Guess they don’t care about the anti-gay laws in El Salvador. *sigh*
— Carl DeMaio (@carldemaio) April 2, 2019
Please go away and practice your ill minded philosophy some where else. Thanks
— Michael Crowder II (@crowder_ii) April 8, 2019
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- ‘So satisfying!’ Karma comes potty-mouthed ‘Kayak Karen’ after she berates other boaters - March 28, 2024
- RFK Jr talks media bias, addresses possible Libertarian ticket in wide-ranging interview with Chris Cuomo - March 28, 2024
- ‘Why are you doing this?’ Joy Behar panicked that ‘clown’ RFK Jr will hand the election to Trump - March 28, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!