Newsom defends California amid high cost of living criticism on CNN

CNN host Dana Bash confronted Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., on Sunday about California’s affordability crisis, citing a couple who fled to Nashville to escape the state’s high costs.

“California has the highest cost of living in the nation,” Bash told Newsom. “The state’s prices are 11% higher than the national average. We were actually out to dinner here in Nashville last night. We met a couple from California. They moved out of California because they couldn’t afford the rent or even to buy a home and also start a family.”

Bash spoke to Newsom in a wide-ranging interview for “State of the Union,” during which the governor faced questions about his book, “Young Man in a Hurry.”

“Yes, we have had hundreds of thousands of people move into California. The last two, three years, we have seen population growth. As you know, we moved from six to the fourth-largest economy in the world. And we dominate now in every key industry, from A.I., quantum, robotics. We dominate in ag [agriculture]. We dominate in forestry. We dominate in manufacturing,” Newsom countered.

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Bash said that people were struggling to afford things in the state, and Newsom argued that they pushed for “$11 insulin” and universal healthcare.

He said California had the highest minimum wage for healthcare workers and fast food workers, and argued the state just “subsidized over 300,000 childcare slots.”

“So we’re looking at it from both sides. That’s why we have a parents’ agenda that expanded paid sick leave and extended to eight weeks of paid family leave, all to support families, to address cost of living and to address the affordability crisis that goes back literally 70 years in California, for one reason,” he said.

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However, the governor acknowledged housing difficulties in California.

“We’re as dumb as we want to be on housing, and we haven’t been able to get out of our way. It explains more things in more ways and more ways of what’s wrong with our state. And, finally, we moved forward with historic housing reforms that even our worst critics, including some on the left, like my friend Ezra Klein, acknowledged were the most progressive and perhaps most impactful reforms in a generation to finally address that issue,” he said.

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Questions about California’s policies will be a major focal point if Newsom decides to run for president in 2028. 

A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll released on Thursday found that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg topped the list of potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders.

Newsom and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York were tied for second at 15%, with former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ 2024 nominee, and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona each at 10%.

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