Gavin Newsom didn’t shy away from Sean Hannity’s fiery questioning about the homelessness crisis in California — including its relative size compared to real rival Florida — saying “we own” the numbers and blaming housing costs and “locality” are blaming.
“The state has not made progress over the past two decades as it relates to the homeless,” the California governor said bluntly at the top of an excerpt provided by Fox News. The full interview, Newsom’s first with a conservative cable news network in more than a decade, was scheduled to air Monday at 9 p.m. on “Hannity.”
The namesake host then asked Newsom why the state was holding back, after Newsom tried to cast blame on a Republican governor 18 years ago.
“Because the cost of housing is so high,” Newsom said. “Our regulatory moots are very problematic. Localism has been very influential, which means people are pushing against starting and building new housing locally. I’ve been here four years. I can’t make up for the fact that Maybe in 2005 we had a historic number of homeless under a Republican administration.
“It’s 171,000 now!” Hannity retorted.
Newsom said, ‘Shameful, shameful.
Hannity essentially compared California’s number of homeless to the estimated 26,000 in Florida, with which Newsom has been in a war of words since Ron DeSantis ramped up his presidential campaign.
“Of course,” said Newsome. “Not even a comparison.”
Hannity noted that the number is small given the states’ similar climates.
“The dynamics are very different,” Newsom replied. “She said, we own it, Shawn. I’m not. I’m not here to defend it.”
you can watch the full clip at Fox News,
