Gavin Newsom Visits States Where Freedom ‘Under Attack’; Skips California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) revealed Thursday that he has completed a tour of states where “freedom” is “under attack” — but excluded California, even as he tries to limit the Second Amendment and other freedoms there.

.@GavinNewsom just went on a tour of states where he says “freedom is most under attack.” @jrpsaki sat down with him in Alabama for a wide-ranging conversation that will air Sunday at 12pm ET. pic.twitter.com/lbkmnjkM5C

— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) April 6, 2023

CBS News noted that Newsom “has been everywhere but the Golden State” in his tour, which included Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and other Southern states. Newsom has targeted socially conservative laws on abortion, and has (falsely) accused states like Florida of “banning books” because they have barred the use of radical ideologies like Critical Race Theory, and have removed transgenderism from curricula for early grades.

Newsom is hardly a proponent of “freedom” — at least in his own state. He banned indoor religious worship during the coronavirus pandemic — a policy that was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court — and has constantly targeted the Second Amendment, though his policies have also fallen afoul of the courts. Newsom is also attacking the oil and gas industry, attempting to eliminate gas-powered cars — just the latest example of a heavy-handed economic approach that limits economic freedom.

But California was not on the list of states for Newsom’s “tour,” which is aimed at shoring up a new political action committee (PAC), the Campaign for Democracy.

The PAC is widely seen as a vehicle for Newsom’s future presidential ambitions, though he has disavowed any intention to challenge President Joe Biden in 2024 — for now.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.