In his recent four-hour interview in Nashville, California’s Big Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom told some real whoppers — about his Covid tyranny, his anti-gunowner policies, his pro-illegal-alien agenda, and and more.

Here’s our fact-checking of four of Newsom’s claims:

1. Newsom denied any accountability for oppressing average Californians with his iron-fisted Covid policies, saying in the interview, “we were worried” and “we didn’t know.”

FACT: Newsom imposed the most Covid “restrictions” of any governor, going far and beyond federal advice — tens of millions of Californians needlessly suffered.

As the California Globe reported 7/16/25:

On a recent podcast, host Shawn Ryan asked Gov. Gavin Newsom about his handling of the pandemic, and his decisions to lock down the entire state of California during the Covid flu.

“What are some of the things during Covid that maybe were a mistake?” Ryan asked the governor. Newsom said “we were worried it was airborne, and about people being outside,” as if that ludicrous notion wasn’t dispelled almost as quickly as it was proposed. “And we realized then, after the fact, ‘what the hell were we doing shutting down the beaches, and open areas?’” Newsom said.

California was locked down for three years, not three months. California Governor Gavin Newsom was the first governor in the nation to order a state fully locked down, and he extended out mask mandates and school and business lockdowns beyond all other states.

“Do you think some of the restrictions you put in place created a mental health crisis… by being locked up, by not being outdoors?” Ryan asked. “Oh c’mon man, of course,” Newsom replied, dislocating his shoulder to pat himself on the back. His new line is “we didn’t know.”

Gavin is now attempting to impersonate a compassionate human being and moderate politician.

He had no real answers for Shawn Ryan. Newsom flailed his jazz hands and talked in circles until Ryan moved on to another topic.

Newsom locked down the entire state of California for three years, nearly 1,095 days, claiming it was because of the Covid flu. Newsom ordered “non-essential” businesses to shut down. Newsom ordered day cares, K-12 schools and colleges and universities shut down. He ordered churches to shut down. He shut down restaurants, and even cancelled outdoor dining. California looked as if a nuclear bomb had dropped and wiped out the population but left the infrastructure standing.

Newsom had mountains of sand dumped into skate parks and playgrounds so kids could not use the equipment, and had basketball nets removed.

Newsom ordered indoor and outdoor masking and mandated the covid shot on babies and children, and all Californians, and then extorted those who wanted to go back to school and work with the shot – no shot, no work or school.

For the first time in history, healthy people were locked down by government tyrants like Gavin Newsom during the Covid flu.

Governor Newsom had Californians arrested for attempting to take an outdoor run. He arrested a lone paddle-boarder in Southern California for daring to visit an empty beach.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s lockdowns made little or no difference – other than to destroy years of kids’ education and kill off as many of the state’s small businesses as possible.

We know who the chief California tyrant is… he told us who he was every day during the COVID outbreak with his freakish television appearances demanding we “stay safe, stay home,” “shelter-in-place” for our own good… while he moved about freely; while his life went on relatively normally, vacationing, dining out with friends, traveling.

Gov. Newsom’s actions were undemocratic, authoritarian, autocratic, oppressive and tyrannical.

As the lockdowns wore on, Gov. Newsom was increasingly diabolical, offering up end dates to the masking and lockdowns, only to either fully retract those claiming “positive tests were up,” or to attach a caveat – like the unvaccinated would have to continue to wear masks indefinitely.

In June 2021, Gov. Newsom announced he would end his COVID stay-at-home order, business lockdowns, and school closures after more than 15 months… but he also said a vaccination verification system would be coming in short order – which is to say, he wanted Californians to use an electronic vaccine passport to gain entrance to businesses, work and events.

The purpose of such an electronic system was to “allow” businesses to confirm that their customers had received their shots. And those who had not taken a vaccine would be required to continue to wear masks, as a form of a “Scarlet Letter.”

Newsom’s lifting of mask mandates for vaccinated individuals was just another cruel strategy to coerce compliance of the vaccination. “Get the vaccine and you can have your freedom; you can go back to normal,” was the plan.

As it turned out, California wasn’t really reopening in 2020, 2021 or even 2022, as the governor frequently teased in his daily television updates. And that was because the state was still under a statewide declaration of emergency, meaning Newsom retained his emergency authority to alter or suspend state laws – indefinitely. Which he did with great frequency.

As the Totalitarian Tyrant in Chief, Gov. Newsom issued 58 executive orders – “one-man-rule” decrees – during his statewide lockdown.

By 2023, California had lost 35.9 percent of “non-essential” businesses, which remained closed after being ordered to. More than one-third of restaurants permanently closed. Many owners were unable to pay their bills or feed their families while Home Depot, Costco and Walmart remained open, deemed “essential” by Gov. Newsom.

And Gov. Newsom was caught living his best life, dining at the French Laundry in Napa, enjoying multiple vacations out of the country while he locked down Californians. In Feb. 2022 he starred in “MaskGate” at the NFC Championship game in Los Angeles – despite his own face mask mandates.

And after Gavin Newsom was caught going maskless at that birthday party in 2020 for his political advisor Jason Kinney at the Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, he said, “I want to apologize to you because I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice, and I’ve done my best to do that. We’re all human. We all fall short sometimes.”

It was evident that Gov. Newsom didn’t feel unsafe dining in a restaurant during the covid flu, and all of his lockdowns and mandates were a lie.

2. In the interview, Newsom claimed he’s “not anti-gun at all” and says he “celebrates” hunting rifle experiences: “What did I do on Mother’s Day? I was…doing skeet shooting…we got married in Montana, my daughter’s name is Montana, the family has a ranch out there, we’re hunters — bow-hunting for me, primarily…my son, 11 years old, got his first rifle from his grandfather, and that was a point of pride…it was emotional…my detachment…the history…the attachment to his grandfather now because of that…so again, I celebrate that.”

FACT: Newsom can tell stories all he wants about his safe vacations with his armed security guards in tow, but he’s denying Californians their own protection from home invaders and other armed assailants.

Just last year alone, Newsom signed 13 anti-gunowner bills, making it harder for law-abiding Californians to defend themselves.

As Conservative Brief reported 7/13/25:

California Governor Gavin Newsom tried to walk back his anti-gun record in a recent interview with Shawn Ryan, claiming he’s not opposed to the Second Amendment, but his political track record tells a completely different story.

In typical fashion, Newsom leaned on charm and deflection, saying he’s not “anti-gun at all” after Ryan gave him a California-compliant SIG Sauer P365 X-Macro. Newsom said his concern is with “large capacity magazine clips” and so-called “weapons of war” — the term Democrats use for the AR-15, America’s most popular rifle.

He also added he’s “sometimes” against people “out-gunning” the police, Townhall reported.

But again, the facts don’t back up his claims.

Since taking office in 2019, Newsom has signed close to 70 gun control laws. That includes SB 1327, which allows private citizens to sue over illegal firearms and parts. In 2023, he backed an 11 percent tax on all gun and ammo sales, funneling the money into school safety and gun violence prevention programs. The tax was designed to discourage gun ownership, plain and simple.

This isn’t new for Newsom either. As mayor of San Francisco in 2005, he supported Proposition H, which would have banned the sale and possession of handguns in the city. The courts struck it down, but Newsom defended it at the time by pointing to a family tragedy involving his grandfather and saying he didn’t like guns.

In 2016, as lieutenant governor, he led the charge on Proposition 63. That measure banned high-capacity magazines and required background checks for ammunition purchases. He wasn’t just a supporter — he was the official proponent of the initiative and one of its most vocal champions.

So while Newsom may now claim he respects the Second Amendment, his long history of pushing aggressive gun control tells the real story.

3. Newsom claimed California and other Democrat-controlled states are safer than Republican states: “…if you look at gun death rates and murder rates — substantially lower in the state of California and in the vast majority of blue states.”

FACT: In the last 7 years, Newsom & Co. has INCREASED CRIME by:

• Early release of tens of thousands of criminals
• Decriminalizing certain crimes, thus no longer counting them
• Not prosecuting certain crimes, and again not counting those
• Prohibiting prison sentences for virtually all property felonies, parole violations, and even crimes like assault

Newsom & the Democrats CA “realigned” prison offenses, and then redefined “recidivism.”

Furthermore, California refuses to submit full reports to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

As reported by the California Globe on Sept. 28, 2021, even Biden & Co.’s FBI reported in 2021 that California murder rates had jumped after one full year of Newsom as governor:

The estimated number of violent crimes in the nation increased for the first time in 4 years, when compared with the previous year’s statistics, according to FBI figures. In 2020, violent crime was up 5.6 percent from the 2019 number.

In addition to undermining the state’s Three Strikes law which successfully dealt with recidivist criminals, and while disarming law-abiding California citizens with strict gun control laws, Gov. Brown and state lawmakers pushed and passed a number of initiatives that gutted the criminal justice system:

• weakening parole (AB 109),
• downgrading a host of crimes to misdemeanors (Prop. 47),
• and making dangerous felons eligible for release when they have served just a portion of their sentences (Prop. 57)

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports that 75 percent of recidivists commit their re-entry crime within a year of release. The previous definition of “recidivism” was “arrests,” rather than “convictions,” and it was within one year, not three years. Additionally, study after study has shown that between 6 percent and 10 percent of criminals are responsible for up to 70 percent of all crimes committed.

Nationwide facts from the Heritage Foundation in 2023:

“At the county level, the homicide rate has been higher in Democratic-leaning ‘blue’ counties than in Republican-voting ‘red’ counties since 2002. Crime, however, is a local issue, and analysis of crime data needs to be undertaken at the local level.”

Ask yourself — has crime gone up in your community? Look at Oakland, California’s “murder capital”:

“Oakland City Council Adds New Police Academy, More Officers Due To Rising Crime Rate: Only two council members voted no on the resolution, saying that the new academy would not solve the rise in crime” (California Globe 9/23/21)

“In-N-Out Oakland Closed Solely Due to Crime: Oakland officials tried to give other reasons for the closure” (California Globe 9/28/24)

4. In the interview, Newsom claimed he “believe(s) in border security” and would be “happy to advocate for eliminating sanctuary policy.”

FACT: In his 7 years as governor, Gavin Newsom has supported and provided many “magnets” attracting illegals to come to California.

Newsom & Co. have already awarded illegal aliens significant benefits:

— in-state tuition and financial aid
— free health care via Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program)
— other “health” services including taxpayer-funded abortions
— free school meals
— free food through the CalFresh program

And Newsom’s spending tax dollars on free healthcare for illegals is seriously threatening the solvency of the state budget:

As The California Conversation reported March 25:

Last week it was announced that Governor Gavin Newsom is seeking a $3.44 billion loan from California’s general fund, as well as an immediate additional $2.8 billion in funding, to cover over-budget expenses incurred by our state’s Medi-Cal program. Why is the program over budget and underfunded? There are a few factors that have gone into it, but the main reason comes down to the fact that the state expanded Medi-Cal to include coverage for illegal immigrants, and they underestimated how many of these participants would sign up to the program.

Let’s compare the numbers. In 2020, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated 1.15 million undocumented immigrants would enroll in Medi-Cal. Today it is estimated that there are 2.74 million undocumented immigrants in California, and those estimates are conservative and actually admit that the number is most likely much higher. While it’s fair to assume that not every illegal immigrant will enroll in Medi-Cal, it’s estimated that there are at least 700,000 more enrolled than were anticipated, and I think that it’s fair to say it’s most likely higher than that as well. Then, in terms of cost, it was also estimated that expanding the program to illegal immigrants would cost the state $3 billion; now, the actual number has ballooned to $9.5 billion for 2024.

But Newsom, fearful of looking like he can’t balance a budget, simply adjusted, instead of ending, his pro-illegal-alien policy. As the California Policy Center reported 5/16/25:

Last week it was announced that Governor Gavin Newsom is seeking a $3.44 billion loan from California’s general fund, as well as an immediate additional $2.8 billion in funding, to cover over-budget expenses incurred by our state’s Medi-Cal program. Why is the program over budget and underfunded? There are a few factors that have gone into it, but the main reason comes down to the fact that the state expanded Medi-Cal to include coverage for illegal immigrants, and they underestimated how many of these participants would sign up to the program.

And Newsom’s new $321 BILLION budget is the biggest in state history, giving illegals the rest of this year to sign up for 100% free healthcare. As you can see, Newsom’s acts are NOT for “border security,” and he’s NOT DOING ANYTHING to curtail his pro-illegal-alien “sanctuary” policies.

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
Ephesians 4:25

He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
Psalm 101:7