In the past year, California Governor Gavin Newsom has been more vocal about criticizing the way cities and counties in his state handle homelessness. His frustration peaked during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon while discussing the May updates to his proposed state budget.

Activist Kevin Dalton noted that Newsom “launched into an intense tirade questioning how politicians who leave homeless individuals on the streets to die manage to get reelected.”

Back in 2008, as the Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom declared a 10-year plan to end homelessness in the city. Now, he leads a state where half of the nation’s homeless population resides. Despite his frequent claims that resolving homelessness is his top priority, the situation continues to worsen by all measures: increasing numbers of people on the streets, rising deaths among the homeless, more violent crimes involving the homeless, fires started by the homeless, and so on. Additionally, the state has lost track of $24 billion allocated for homelessness funding.

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) November 25, 2024