Yesterday, the Trump administration announced it was pausing more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California because of the suspected rampant fraud and noncompliance in both states. In a press conference with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) head Dr. Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, it was announced that California will not receive $867 million until it can prove Medicaid and Medicare payments are legitimate.
Dr. Oz pointed out that California spending on in-home care went up 24 percent in the last two years, double the country's average. "California increased spending at twice the rate of the average of the rest of the entire nation," he said. "That doesn't make sense." Doubly so when you consider that California has had a net population loss over the last several years.
We all knew Gov. Gavin Newsom would respond to this pausing of payments, and he tried to blame President Trump for it. But it did not go well for Newsom, at all.
Gavin Newsom STRUGGLES during his attempt at answering a question about the Trump administration withholding funds from California due to waste, fraud & abuse.
— Red Line News (@RedLineNewsUSA) July 22, 2026
Newsom tried to flip the script on Trump, but he FAILED MISERABLY. https://t.co/km7Aa9ZtK1 pic.twitter.com/nZIsiDDdZD
"They're withholding it. But we knew this weeks ago because we've been working with them, but they decided again to make it a thing," Newsom said.
Really? Newsom knew this weeks ago and didn't say a word about it until today? We don't buy that for a second.
"We're trying to be collaborative," he continued, "understand, it's ready, fire, aim for them. They're suggesting something but they haven't even gotten the response from the state. And now they're suggesting it very publicly in order to make. This is politics and you know it's politics. To the extent it's substantive, bring it on. We want to work with them."
CMS said it was withholding payments for noncompliance, after requesting information and a plan to address Medicare/Medicaid from California months ago. Has the Newsom administration sent that plan to CMS? Is Newsom really working with the Trump administration he routinely bashes?
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"But not with the BS. Not this, you know, this partisanship. That's what it is. You know it, everyone knows it. We take the issues very seriously," Newsom added.
So seriously, that the Democrats are trying to criminalize investigative journalism that exposes their corruption and fraud instead of, you know, addressing the corruption and fraud.
"I'm a taxpayer, I don't like waste. None of us likes waste, fraud. The fraud is the Trump administration," he said. "The waste is the jaw-dropping abuse to the taxpayers of this failed war in Iran. Want to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse."
You're doing great, Gavin.
"This is legendary status, hall of fame. One-of-one status. Trump administration on waste," Newsom continued. "Look at the Pentagon supplemental request and fraud. The great grift. The Qatari plane that includes almost a billion dollars of your taxpayer money. A billion dollars. By the way, almost the exact same amount they withheld on Medicaid in California to go to pay for his private plane that he'll be taking with him."
What is he even talking about?
This guy is a miserable failure and he knows it. Everything in the state has failed… water security, clean forests, fire relief, solving homelessness, crime, violence, illegal immigration, and housing. All HIS policies failed. Now he wants to spread it across the USA. No thanks.
— Rabid Patriot (@OFatigue) July 22, 2026
Newsom so desperately wants to be President, and he knows he never will be.
He literally sounds like Joe Biden...can't finish a sentence but says "c'mon man"...when he looses train of thought or the ability to quickly fabricate a believable response
— Henrietta (@Henrietta494805) July 22, 2026
He has no response because he knows there's fraud. So he has to deflect and blame President Trump for everything.
Newsom can’t attack Trump because it’s all due to California’s fraud. https://t.co/cfMyddJrx2
— GlammaSooz (@GlammaSooz) July 22, 2026
This is all projection, by the way.
As Townhall, CBS, Jennifer Van Laar over at RedState, and others have reported, there is massive fraud and corruption in California. And it happened on Gavin Newsom's watch, and Newsom did nothing to fix it. Because he doesn't want to. He's fine with waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars if it's done for the reasons he approves of and supports.
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