Gavin Newsom has had more residents flee his state under his administration than any other governor in the history of the United States.
Posted by The Benny Show, Checked
- Sources
- 1 support4 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 40%
The Benny ShowOct 28, 2026
The sources show California's population declined in 2020 and that residents continued leaving during Newsom's tenure, but none compares his outflow with any other governor's in U.S. history, so the superlative central claim is not addressed. The extraction matches the passage, which makes the same comparative claim.
A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.
What was said
… You got to know Gavin. You got to know a little bit of Gavin. This one is easy, and that is, in the history of the United States of America you know, we celebrate 250 years yeah, but in the history of the United States of America, there's never been a governor who's had as many of his residents flee his state under his administration. There is no other America for people to flee to. There are reasons why people left California, and it's named Gavin Newsom. That's right. So that's not gonna be, that's not gonna be a great how you gonna run with that, Governor, 2028? …
The Benny Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports California lost 182,083 people in 2020, its first population decline, during Newsom's time as governor.[1]
Context. Multiple sources describe sustained net domestic out-migration from California after 2020 and link it to Newsom's governorship, but they do not rank his outflow against other governors.[3][4][5]
Context. PolitiFact notes DeSantis's claim that Newsom is the first governor to lose population, and says California's 2020 decline was the first ever, but it does not verify a comparison across all governors' records.[2]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1California leaving: State population declines for first timeapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Fact-checking Newsom-DeSantis debatepolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3California Population Declined in 2020 as Thousands Fled Newsom-Boudin Axis of Terrorfreebeacon.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 4Why Californians are fleeing this once-Golden State - LA Timeslatimes.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 5Newsom’s Presidential Ambitions Died in Davos - Energy News Beatenergynewsbeat.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post