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California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he had joined former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform to call out “Republican lies.”
“I know we’re all on this platform in search for the truth,” Newsom said in a video post. “But the truth is I’ve not been able to find a simple explanation for the fact that we have a red state murder problem.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom answers questions at a news conference after signing a memorandum of cooperation on climate change with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the California Science Center outside of the Summit of the Americas, in Los Angeles, on Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Newsom said that eight out of the top 10 states with the highest murder rates are Republican-run.
He said the “question is simple. What are the laws and policies in those states that are leading to such carnage?”
His post comes as several California cities run by progressives have come under fire for rising crime rates and “soft-on-crime” policies.
Last week, San Francisco voters decided to recall liberal District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon also faces a recall effort over his liberal policies.
In an interview last week, Newsom called Boudin’s recall “predictable” and said it wasn’t an”arbiter of something farther reaching.”
“I think the issue in San Francisco, in particular, is people want the streets cleaned up – period. Full stop. Enough,” he told the host of the FOX 11 political show “The Issue Is.” “They want the streets cleaned up. They want a sense of order from the disorder they’re feeling on the streets.”
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin hugs a supporter Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in San Francisco. San Francisco residents voted to recall Boudin, a progressive, following a heated campaign that captivated the country and bitterly divided Democrats over crime, policing and public safety reform. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) (AP)
He continued, “Now crime’s a component of that but there’s a lot of conflation of those issues,” including mental health, open use of drugs, drug dealing and “the dirtiness in parts of the city. And tag, the DA was it, meaning there was some attachment of accountability and responsibility.”
He said all San Francisco elected officials took some blame for the state of the streets but “in particular the district attorney.”
When asked by the host if Democrats bear responsibility for issues like homelessness in San Francisco and other cities, he said “absolutely” but added that cities across the country have the same issues – Democratic and Republican.
Police vehicles stationed at Union Square following a spate of robberies in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2021. (AP/Eric Risberg)
“It’s right to focus on where we need to improve, not necessarily unique and distinctive,” he said.
LA DA Gascon was under fire this week after a suspect who was on probation killed two El Monte police officers. He had received a lenient sentence through plea deal after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Mississippi has the highest homicide mortality rate in the country followed by Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Illinois and New Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California was 31st on the list.
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Trump launched Truth Social in February that “encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating on the basis of political ideology.”