California Gov. Gavin Newsom Launches Fact-Checking Website

The governor launched the new website designed for ‘fighting back’ against what he called misinformation about the Golden State.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched a new website aimed at countering what he says is false information about the state and his administration.

“We just launched a new site to call out the misinformation machine that consistently spews lies about CA,” Newsom said in a post on the social media platform X on May 7. “And we’re done letting the trolls define the Golden State. We’re going on the offense and fighting back—with facts.”

Financed by Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy PAC, the website, CaliforniaFacts.com, lists a range of topics that will be addressed, including climate, crime, the Los Angeles fires, immigration, water, and the economy.

One headline on the website reads, “False Claim: People are fleeing California. In fact, our population is growing.”

According to Census Bureau data, California’s population growth is driven mainly by international migration, as a greater number of Californians have moved to other states than have moved into the state in the past few years.

From July 2023 to July 2024, California saw a net loss of about 240,000 people to domestic migration. The loss was offset by more than 361,000 immigrants in the same period, resulting in a net gain of more than 121,000 people to the state’s population.

Other claims posted on Newsom’s website include, “California has NOT ‘opened the border,’” “No, the military did not enter California to ‘turn on the water,’” and “California did NOT run out of water while fighting the LA wildfires.”

CaliforniaFacts.com also disputes a recent analysis by Michael Mische, a University of Southern California professor, that the price of gas in the state will skyrocket as high as $8.44 per gallon by the end of 2026 as a result of refinery closures, such as Phillips 66 in Los Angeles and Valero Energy Corp in Northern California.

These closures and other factors could result in a potential 21 percent drop in refining capacity from 2023 to April 2026, according to Mische.

“The high operating costs, together with what many consider to be a hostile political and regulatory environment towards refiners ... create an inevitable ‘death spiral’ for the oil and gas industry. Consequently, refiners are exiting the Golden State,” he said.

CaliforniaFacts.com stated that “his ‘analysis’ had NO sources and included NO methodology—just guesses.”

Newsom also launched a podcast earlier this year, called “This is Gavin Newsom,” in which he has discussed issues of the day with conservative influencers such as Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, as well as Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.