California Governor Gavin Newsom used California’s 2020 State of the State address to launch a broadside against President Trump.
Newsom credited his home state for the economic expansion underway nationwide while taking some not-so-thinly veiled jabs at Trump.
“We’ve averaged 3.8% GDP growth over five years,” Newsom said. “And I say this respectfully, compare that to the 2.5% national GDP growth. California is outperforming.”
“So respectfully, when you hear the boasts, the bleets, the tweets of Washington politicians tripping over themselves to take credit for the economy, remember the real VIPs of American GDP and that’s the millions of California workers and investors and entrepreneurs who are actually producing their own California dreams,” Newsom said.
“Don’t worry,” he assured his audience. “I’m not going to get much more partisan than that.”
Newsom pointed to progressive policies being the source of California’s growth.
“What I love saying about the state today is it’s an enterprising, modernizing, pluralizing, unionizing nation state of opportunity,” he said. “Just consider, just to underscore the point, just consider that one in seven new jobs, one in seven new American jobs added to our economy just since 2010 have been created right here in the state of California.”
Newsom did acknowledge California’s homelessness crisis. Calling it a “disgrace,” Newsom offered a variety of ideas, including enabling doctors to “write prescriptions for housing.”