Last week, California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Florida Democrats to man up in the fight against Gov. Ron DeSantis, or, alternatively, join him in California.
Yet it seems not even Newsom wants to be in California.
According to the website CalMatters.org, Newsom and his family are on vacation in Montana.
Which specifically violates California’s travel ban for state employees.
In 2016, California enacted a law that banned state employees from traveling to other states that repeal or void “existing state or local protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” or that have enacted laws that authorize or require “discrimination against same-sex couples or their families or on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”
As it stands, 22 states are on that list. Montana is one of them. So is Florida.
Yet Newsom’s in-laws own a ranch in Montana, and that apparently is where the left-wing governor took his family.
It was not easy information to come by.
His location was something that his office “appeared loath to disclose,” CalMatters noted.
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“Although the office said Friday the governor had left California to spend time with family, it did not until Tuesday answer questions about where he was or when specifically he would return, a noticeable difference from communication surrounding other recent out-of-state trips.”
Newsom’s office tried to hedge the situation.
A spokesman told CalMatters, “We don’t legislate where people vacation. Never have. The travel ban applies to expending state funds. The Governor’s travel is not being paid for by the state.”
Yeah, about that.
CalMatters asked what about the governor’s security team – state employees who, presumably, are not being paid out of Newsom’s own pocket.
According to media reports, the California Highway Patrol handles Newsom’s security detail.
“We don’t comment or provide details on the governor’s security,” the spokesman added.
CalMatters observed, “The reluctance of Newsom’s office to share details about the vacation contrasts sharply with clearer communication surrounding other recent out-of-state trips.”
“And it suggests the governor is aware of the politically perilous optics of vacationing in a red state while he attempts to position himself at the vanguard of the Democratic Party — a strategy praised by columnists in national outlets such as the Washington Post and the Atlantic — and he slams Republican-led states for COVID-19 policies and high crime rates, among other things.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the Republican National Committeewoman from California, told CalMatters in reference to the campaign ads that Newsom aired on Fox News in Florida over the weekend: “At a time when Californians are still living under a two years and counting state of emergency, our gas taxes were raised (again) July 1 to the highest levels in the nation … Gavin Newsom is running campaign ads in better-run states and refusing to tell the taxpayers where he is or when he will return to his overtaxed, under-served constituents.”
“Most Californians can’t afford to take their normal holidays this year, thanks to Gavin Newsom and his party’s lack of leadership of our state,” Dhillon added.
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