California Gov. Newsom catches heat for vacationing in red state

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has regularly taken aim at red states in national media, is being scrutinized after quietly taking a family trip to Republican-led Montana that may have violated state law.

Montana is one of 22 states to which California has banned state-funded and state-sponsored travel, under a 2016 law that bars such travel to states deemed discriminatory to LGBT people, so the governor drew sharp criticism for hypocrisy when CalMatters reported his location.

The Democratic governor has ties to the Treasure State through his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom: the couple was married there, and his in-laws own a ranch there.  

They even named their first daughter together “Montana.”

But Montana was added to the list by the California Department of Justice last year it passed a law that barred transgender students from joining sports teams corresponding to their gender identity, along with a religious liberty exemption for businesses that LGBT advocates said could be abused, reports Politico.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office said it was a personal trip Newsom paid for himself, therefore not prohibited. A California Highway Patrol confirmed to Politico that the 2016 law allowed for law enforcement to provide security to state officials.

The trip is still not a good look for a man who bought ads in Florida, another red state on the list, targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his conservative policies the same weekend he was in Montana.

“It was information that the governor’s office appeared loath to disclose,” wrote Emily Hoeven of CalMatters, about how Newsom’s team did not disclose his destination as they had for past out-of-state vacations.

Newsom is being floated as a possible 2024 presidential candidate alongside DeSantis, who is widely expected to run.