California Governor Gavin Newsom traveled to China last week to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss climate change. Newsom and fellow California Democrats have spent years installing draconian environmental laws in the Golden State that have resulted in the most devastating and expensive wildfires in state history while tens of thousands of people are homeless and prices continue to rage out of control.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose feud with Newsom will result in a prime-time debate on Fox News, says he knows first-hand how bad California has gotten because of the number of residents who have moved to Florida in recent years.
DeSantis told reporters with the Daily Mail that a photograph circulating online of Newsom and Xi was “not surprising” and that the pair are “two peas in a pod.” California and China followed very similar protocols during COVID-19 which have been at the forefront of the ongoing feud between the two governors.
California was one of the first states to shut down schools and businesses and used a complex coding system to determine which counties were allowed to have certain types of businesses open. The state kept schools and most businesses shuttered longer than any other state and still has not completely disengaged from restrictions enacted during the pandemic.
In contrast, Florida was one of the first states to make an effort to return to normal, even if in doing so, some people were infected who might not have been. As the pandemic fizzled out and it became clear that much of the guidance given to states by the Centers for Disease Control was a knee-jerk reaction and not based on science, DeSantis’ decision to force the opening of Florida paid off.
Newsom likes to frame California as leading the nation on climate change, but even the most basic solutions have not materialized under his leadership. Devastating wildfires, which liberals like to say are the result of climate change, are more often than not caused by improperly maintained electrical supply that has led to Pacific Gas & Electric facing manslaughter charges. As the state’s largest energy provider, it has proven impossible for the State to effectively prevent PG&E from causing ecological disaster through sheer negligence.
DeSantis on Gavin Newsom’s trip to China:
“I saw him over there groveling with Xi Jinping and I thought to myself: These are two guys who locked down their people, violated their rights… They both had really the same playbook with respect to COVID.”pic.twitter.com/tQqY7GYUlg
— Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) October 28, 2023
In many other states, a governor schmoozing with the Communist leader would be seriously frowned on, but with enclaves of liberal voters occupying all major cities in the Golden State, socialist priorities are exceedingly popular. The handouts during COVID-19 showed just how willing a majority of Californians are to embrace socialism and reliance on the State for basic needs. By focusing on the nebulous “climate change” agenda, Newsom is able to drown out minority Republican voices in the state and ignore the devastation that his policies create.
Newsom, the nephew of former Sen. Diane Feinstein, is widely believed to be gearing up for a run for the presidency in 2028. His radical policies in the state should be kept front-and-center and the devastation his party has wrought on the state should not be ignored.
