Gavin Newsom, king of blame

Gavin Newsom has mastered one political skill above all others: how to avoid blame. 

Since taking office in 2019, California’s governor has turned deflection into a high art form, rarely missing an opportunity to blame everyone and everything except the person actually in charge.

From wildfires to homelessness, budget black holes to high-speed rail boondoggles, everything is someone else’s fault.

Californians have watched this unfold over eight years with a mix of amusement, exasperation and outright shock, as Newsom gallivants across the globe to attack Trump — who, in a general sense, is to blame for everything.

In his first State of the State address in 2019, Newsom scaled back hopes for high-speed rail, a project from the Jerry Brown era that was already behind schedule and over budget. 

But later, instead of owning the fact that he was rejecting his predecessor’s policy, he blamed the media for “misinterpreting” his words. 

Wildfires have provided endless material for Newsom’s blame-shifting. Early in his term, he blamed “corporate greed” at Pacific Gas & Electric, and the unstoppable force of climate change. 

Never mind his abysmal state forest management, or budget cuts to fire preparedness, or regulatory red tape holding up common-sense prevention measures.

Then the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires came. Thousands of homes burned as hydrants ran dry. 

Newsom cried that he couldn’t get “straight answers” from his own team, or local officials. He demanded an investigation into why the reservoir above Pacific Palisades had been empty — as if he weren’t ultimately in charge of the state. Lately, he’s been blaming Trump for delays in federal fire aid.

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Homelessness, the state’s most headline-grabbing and visible embarrassment, follows the same script. 

Newsom once crowned himself the “homeless czar,” promising billions in spending, and bold, effective action. But as tent cities swelled, he turned on local governments. 

Cities and counties weren’t spending the money right, weren’t clearing encampments fast enough, weren’t building housing aggressively enough. 

He suspended funds to “pressure” them, threatened to yank even more, and publicly scolded: “Time to do your job. People are dying on their watch.”

This week, Newsom addressed the failures of the (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) courts, his 2023 attempt to make it easier to commit homeless people to mental health institutions. 

Newsom warned that he was prepared to claw back state funds from 10 counties that, he said, hadn’t made sufficient progress in implementing the CARE system. 

He attacked San Francisco, LA, and Orange counties for allegedly “underperforming,” prompting a protest by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who responded in a statement: “Our administration has been using every tool in our toolbox to address the crisis on our streets.” 

And, of course, California’s famously-high gasoline prices are always the result of “price gouging” by oil companies, never Newsom’s own taxes or “green” policies. 

Lately, Newsom has tried blaming Trump and the latest Iran conflict, when near-$5-per-gallon prices have been the norm for months, if not years.

California’s budget woes? Newsom blames Trump for cutting funds to state-administered programs. He also cites the president’s other economic policies, including tariffs.

Housing shortages? Newsom blames NIMBYs in conservative communities like Huntington Beach, which have resisted dubiously-calculated state housing mandates. 

The list goes on.

Unemployment fraud in California during COVID? Trump’s lack of national coordination. Crime spikes? Prosecutors’ discretion, and Republican meddling. Even minor scandals like fires under freeways saw him blast “bad actors” leasing state land, while his own lax oversight of homeless encampments was at fault.

It’s perpetual alibi-hunting. Newsom accepts “personal” fault only when cornered (like the infamous French Laundry dinner) — then quickly pivots to broader, “systemic” excuses. 

California, once a beacon of innovation, now leads in exodus, unaffordability, and dysfunction.

Now he wants to run for president. Harry Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.” 

Newsom’s version: “I just work here.”

Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based in San Francisco.