Conservative commentator Benny Johnson criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of homelessness, arguing that massive state spending has failed to resolve the crisis as visible encampments continue to dominate major cities, particularly Los Angeles.

Johnson made the remarks while sharing a video clip filmed in downtown Los Angeles, where he contrasted Newsom’s public statements about progress with what he described as the reality on the ground.

He cited state spending totals and questioned how billions of dollars allocated to homelessness programs have translated into tangible results.

“California has spent $24 billion on homelessness,” Johnson said.

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“That's $170,000 per homeless person in the state of California. I'm in downtown Los Angeles. Let's drive around and see if the homeless problem has been fixed. Gavin Newsom tells us it's never been better.”

Johnson’s comments came alongside a clip of Newsom discussing statewide data on homelessness.

“The number of unsheltered homeless in California dropped almost double digits 9% last year,” Newsom said.

Johnson disputed the implication that conditions have meaningfully improved, pointing to what he described as widespread and persistent encampments throughout the state.

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“Let's go ahead and watch out my window,” Johnson said.

“Welcome to Gavin Newsom's California with nearly 200,000 homeless. This is what every single park on ramp, off ramp, ditch underpass looks like all over the state. Here in LA, it's particularly bad.”

Johnson framed the scene as evidence of long-term policy failure, noting Newsom’s lengthy political career in California.

“This is what failure looks like,” Johnson said.

“Gavin has promised to solve homelessness for 30 years. He was first elected in California in 1998 yet here we are with some of the worst homelessness the state has ever seen, and more insulting, the most expensive homelessness the state has ever seen.”

Johnson returned to the cost figures, emphasizing the scale of public spending devoted to the issue.

“Every single homeless person in the state of California costs $170,000 that's $24 billion spent over the last few years on this problem,” he said.

“And what did you get for it? Skyrocketing homelessness, more blight, more failure.”

He questioned how such spending could coincide with what he described as worsening conditions and suggested that the situation raises concerns about how the money is being used.

“That's where the corruption comes in,” Johnson said. “How can you spend that much money just to make a problem worse?”

Johnson argued that the continued flow of funding creates incentives to maintain, rather than resolve, the crisis.

“And it really begs the question, do they want to fix this problem if it's so lucrative?” he said.

He concluded by warning that California’s approach could be replicated nationally if Newsom’s policies gain broader influence.

“That's why the cities of California look like this,” Johnson said.

“That's why the taxpayers keep getting defrauded. That's why Gavin Newsom, well, doesn't want you to watch this video, but you should, because Gavin Newsom wants to do this to the rest of the country. Don't let him. Don't let Gavin Newsom do this to your town.”

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