Gavin Newsom presides over a Third World one party state. Now he thinks that qualifies him for president of this country. Fat chance. Tom Del Beccaro, former California Republican Chairman, tells us about California under Newsom.

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Del Beccaro: Make no mistake — Gavin Newsom is running for president. He has led a gilded life and becomes more liberal with each passing day. Along the way, his policies have dangerously failed, and those failures should not be visited upon the rest of the nation.

Newsom has been a supervisor, a mayor, a lieutenant governor and now governor of California. In 2018, the Sacramento Bee ran this article: “The privileged candidate: Why do we let Gavin Newsom get away with this?” noting his class, wealth and connection privileges, including the billionaire Getty family, Nancy Pelosi and Jerry Brown. Those connections paved the way for his political success — not Newsom’s ability.

As San Francisco mayor, total homelessness (sheltered and unsheltered) rose. Newsom also admitted that “I’ve failed you. We’ve seen an increase in homicides since I’ve been mayor and I need to reconcile that.” Rather than solve problems, Newsom’s 2003 mayoral campaign manager said, “He was very good at seeing where the parade was going and getting out in front of it.”

That remains true today. California is besieged with many crises while Newsom touts the “California way.” Yes, Newsom inherited some of those problems. None have been solved, however, and some are worse. Here is a partial list:

1. The arrogant liar: Newsom famously dined at an elite restaurant during his emergency COVID-19 shutdown. He claimed he was following his own guidelines, but the pictures dispelled that lie. During his public-school shutdown, he falsely claimed he was still a “Zoom” school parent while his children were actually attending private school in person. Meanwhile, while California has banned state-funded travel to 22 states because of their alleged “anti-LGBTQ+ policies,” Newsom hypocritically vacations in one of them.

2. Crisis of poverty: From 2013 to today, California has been No. 1 in the country in poverty, including child poverty, “according to the census’ Supplemental Poverty Measure.” Whatever else you read about California, including its $300 billion budget this year, that poverty alone is an indictment of the California way and highlights Newsom’s failures.

3. Homelessness: Two years after Newsom was elected Governor, as of “January 2020, California had an estimated 161,548 experiencing homelessness on any given day.” Then it got worse. According to HUD, “California’s homeless population increased 7% from 2020 to 2021.”

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4. Out-of-control crime: San Francisco’s DA was just recalled for being soft on crime. As San Francisco Mayor, Newsom appointed the current Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon to be San Francisco’s DA. Now spiraling crime in Los Angeles has fueled a recall against him, but Newsom claims he doesn’t “know” enough about Gascon’s job performance.

5. Health crises: California is on the front line of the fentanyl crisis and the marijuana health crisis. In 2020, nearly three times as many died in San Francisco because of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, than COVID-19. Meanwhile, a “recent CNN investigation found that more Fresno County residents died of meth overdoses in 2020 than homicides or suicides; one- or two-vehicle crashes; and fire, falls and drowning combined.”

6. The rest of the serious crises: California suffers from a perennial water shortage — largely because Newsom sides with environmentalists blocking new water storage despite voter-approved bonds. California is the only state that endures a deadly fire season every year, in part because politicians and bureaucrats blocked proper management of forests and wooded areas, including those near power lines. The supply-chain crisis has a home — it’s the California ports and Newsom has been AWOL on the issue. Despite calling it “jaw dropping,” Newsom has not committed any serious dollars to the problem despite the state’s $300-billion budget.