Fact Check: Newsom Lies About the Vice President’s Visit in California

The Trump administration fact-checked California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday after he promoted a false claim that the Trump administration was closing parts of the Interstate 5 highway for a military showcase. 

“Governor Newsom is deliberately spreading Fake News to Californians to fearmonger and score cheap political points,” Taylor Van Kirk, the vice president’s press secretary, told The Daily Signal.

“Vice President Vance is eager to be in California on Saturday celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Corps alongside United States Marines who, despite the Democrats’ shutdown, will continue to receive pay thanks to President Trump’s hard work,” Van Kirk added. 

Newsom had posted on Wednesday a social media screed denouncing the president and vice president and replying to a left-wing media report which claimed that portions of the I-5 were to be shuttered for the Marine Corps event. The training exercise by the Marines is set to occur on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Red Beach, Camp Pendleton, which is located in Southern California. 

“Donald Trump and JD Vance think that shutting down the I-5 to shoot out missiles from ships is how you respect the military. PUT ASIDE YOUR VANITY PARADE AND PAY OUR TROOPS INSTEAD,” Newsom wrote on X. 

William Martin, a special assistant to the president and communications director to the vice president, responded to the California governor’s post on X by sharing the Marine Corps announcement of their military showcase, which included a section that explicitly stated there would not be any closed highways.

“All training events will occur on approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols. No public highways or transportation routes will be closed,” the announcement said. 

Martin then answered Newsom’s post directly. 

“This is complete fake news. The Marine Corps said they are NOT shutting down the I-5 highway and that the event at Camp Pendleton is a training exercise. Also, President Trump IS paying the troops despite Chuck Schumer’s efforts to hold their salaries hostage,” Martin wrote on X.

The federal government is currently more than two weeks into a government shutdown following Senate Democrats refusal to agree to a GOP funding bill in the Republican controlled Senate and House of Representatives. The government shutdown has led to thousands of federal workers being furloughed without pay and the closure of the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo.

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