Newsom attacks “delusional California critics” in unorthodox speech

In an unorthodox State of the State address shared in a video on social media on Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the “delusional California critics” and praised the state’s economic strength and inclusive values.

Newsom repeated familiar tropes from previous political speeches, portraying the state as a force of light against dark conservative forces and boasting about California’s work to protect civil liberties and the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community.

“Our values ​​and our way of life are the antidote to the toxic populism of the right and to the fear and anxiety that so many people feel today,” Newsom said. “People around the world are looking to California and seeing what is possible and how we can live together, move forward and succeed together despite every imaginable difference.”

With this recorded speech, Newsom broke the California tradition of the governor delivering his annual address to lawmakers at the State Capitol for the fourth year in a row.

His Republican opponents said the decision to again reject the conventional framework was an example of Newsom’s lack of commitment to the job as he builds his national profile.

“The governor has no respect for this institution,” said Rep. James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). “This governor acts like he’s too busy to do the things he should be doing. He could obviously do them personally.”

Newsom’s staff defended the governor, pointing out that the California Constitution only requires him to submit a written letter to the legislature. Newsom invited the lawmakers to a private reception at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento on Monday evening.

Previous governors have used the speech, traditionally delivered in January, to outline their policy agenda for the year to members of both houses and parties in the chamber. The typical address provides an opportunity to pay respect to members by personally appearing in their chamber and to gain their support for the work ahead.

Critics of the speech, however, describe it as a hackneyed ritual in an era of one-party rule and say the speech’s value has been usurped by the budget.

Newsom, who dislikes reading from a teleprompter because of his dyslexia, has not delivered a State of the Union address at the Capitol since 2020. The following year, Newsom’s address was streamed from an empty Dodger Stadium, a center for mass COVID-19 vaccinations, where the seating capacity offered a symbolic representation of California’s death toll from the pandemic at the time.

The 2022 governor spoke from the California Natural Resources Agency’s headquarters in Sacramento, a 21-story, eco-friendly glass tower just blocks from the Capitol, and promised taxpayers gas rebates. Newsom declined to give a speech last year, opting instead for a statewide press tour, making policy announcements at stops from Sacramento to San Diego.

The governor’s office said Newsom wanted to give his speech in the plenary session later this year, but had difficulty finding a date that would work with the legislature.

The speech was originally scheduled for March 13, but the date was postponed after Newsom’s bond proposal to fund mental health services, Proposition 1, failed to pass two weeks after the March 5 primary election. Newsom’s speech was rewritten and scheduled for March 18, then postponed again.

Debates over how to solve California’s $46.8 billion budget deficit heated up the following month and continued into last week. Now lawmakers and the governor are facing a looming deadline to qualify measures for the November ballot and are negotiating with advocacy groups to withdraw the initiatives they rejected.

Democratic Senator Steve Glazer of Orinda was unimpressed by Newsom’s unconventional approach to the speech, saying simply, “We live in times of change” and that he respects the governor’s decision on how to convey his message.

But for a congressman from an earlier generation, Newsom’s video message seemed like an insult.

“I hope this is the last time something like this happens,” said Rusty Areias, a Democratic congressman in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It’s one of the things that members always look forward to. I understand that the governor is very busy. I understand that there are national and international issues that are probably more important, but it’s a tradition that I think is worth maintaining.”

In his speech, Newsom praised his administration’s work to reduce homelessness and crime, two policy areas where he is most politically vulnerable.

“When it comes to America’s homeless problem, California’s critics also have nothing but rhetoric, whining and blame to offer,” Newsom said. “No state has done as much as California to address the insidious problem of homelessness that too many politicians have ignored for too long.”

He rejected claims that California was defunding police and said the state would recruit 1,000 officers for the California Highway Patrol this year and pass reforms to combat shoplifting.

Newsom’s speech alluded to November’s presidential election, which he called “another extraordinary moment in history — for California, for the country and for the world.” He compared the moment to a “fearful” time in 1939, when then-California Governor Culbert Olson warned in his inaugural address of the “destruction of democracy” as fascism spread across Europe.

“We face a choice between a society that represents our values ​​and a world defined by division and discrimination,” Newsom said. “The economic prosperity, health, safety and freedom we enjoy are under attack. There are forces that threaten the foundation of California’s success – our pluralism, our spirit of innovation and our diversity.”

Newsom is expected to travel to Atlanta this week to participate in Thursday’s presidential debate as a surrogate for President Biden. The governor, who has built a reputation as a Democrat who is not afraid to take on Republicans, has been invited by the Biden campaign to participate in media interviews before and after the debate to support the president and the party.

The governor used the speech to attack conservatives nationally over reproductive rights, an issue Democrats have sought to use to their advantage during the campaign, describing it as “telling a woman that she has no control over her own body.”

“When it comes to reproductive rights, their lies are aimed at exerting control,” Newsom said. “Their draconian policies are driving women to flee across state lines as refugees from laws written by men over a hundred years ago. Some even go so far as to force victims of assault to give birth to their rapist’s babies.”

Sacramento bureau chief Laurel Rosenhall and writer Anabel Sosa contributed to this report.