Gavin Newsom would be an unmitigated disaster as president of the United States. How do I know this? Because he’s been an unmitigated disaster for California.
Oh sure, California has the world’s fourth-largest economy, and Newsom touts that whenever possible.
But California leads the nation in several negative metrics, most notably claiming the highest cost-adjusted poverty rate in the country (around 17.7%), the highest rate of homelessness, and some of the highest combined state and local tax burdens, including the highest gas taxes and maximum marginal income tax rates.
When factoring in the cost of housing, California has the highest poverty rates in the country.
The state consistently ranks at or near the bottom in national affordability indices, driven by an extremely high median home price.
California features the highest top-tier state income tax rate in the country and some of the highest sales tax rates. Residents pay some of the highest electricity rates in the continental U.S.
It repeatedly ranks as one of the most hostile states for business operations due to heavy regulatory burdens.
The state has frequently hovered near the top (or highest) in U.S. unemployment rates. California also leads the country in out-migration of residents.
So yeah, you could say Newsom and the Democrat super-majority that runs the state has ruined the state. And trust me, if Newsom were to become president, he will play to the worst impulses of the left-wing commie socialist base of his party.
Case in point: The monumental waste of state and federal tax money to fraud and abuse. The latest example is Newsom spending nearly $190 million on tablets for the state’s inmates, many of whom used he devices to watch porn or groom children.
Newsom, of course, denies any wrongdoing and has attacked the credibility of the reporting. But if he thought that would end this brewing nightmare of a scandal, he was wrong.
Now the House Oversight Committee is demanding more answers – and at a time when he’s set to wind down his governorship and begin focusing on his White House bid.
EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this month, we reported that California prison inmates were using state-issued iPads to watch porn, have explicit video chats, and groom minors on the outside. Now, the House Oversight Committee is demanding documents from Gavin Newsom.
This is a scandal. pic.twitter.com/0k49uBAvJz
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@christopherrufo) May 26, 2026
EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this month, we reported that California prison inmates were using state-issued iPads to watch porn, have explicit video chats, and groom minors on the outside. Now, the House Oversight Committee is demanding documents from Gavin Newsom.
This is a scandal.
The letter to Newsom reads, in part:
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting oversight of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prisoner digital tablet program and the administration of federal grant funds by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).
According to reports, this program distributed tablet computers to nearly all California prisoners by mid-2023. Recent reporting indicates that California’s prison inmates are exploiting these state-issued tablets to access and distribute pornographic content.
Even worse, reports indicate that some inmates have used these tablets to sexually exploit women and minors from their prison cells. These shocking revelations about prisoner tablet use call into question the federal funds and grants given to California for the specific purpose of reducing crime and rehabilitating criminals, just as California’s prisoner program reportedly achieves the exact opposite purpose.
The Committee requests documents and communications to inform its oversight of federal funds given to California through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Affairs.
Items the committee is requesting include “all documents and communications among or between the CDCR, BSCC, and any inmate tablet vendors.”
The lawmakers are seeking documentation detailing how federal funds were used for the tablet program, along with records supporting Newsom’s claims that inmate activity on the devices is actively monitored.
They are also requesting communications between the Office of the Governor of California and both the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Board of State and Community Corrections regarding alleged misuse of the tablets or criminal activity connected to the program.
In addition, the request seeks records outlining any restrictions or limitations placed on inmate use of the tablet system.
Yeah, this is a scandal, alright. And it’s coming at exactly the wrong time for exactly the wrong person we should want as president. This is precisely the kind of left-wing corruption he’ll bring with him to D.C.
