Gavin Newsom’s Final Budget Includes $33,000 for His Own Portrait

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Welcome back to Headlines. I'm Wes Austin and these are today's top stories. Gavin Newsome has budgeted $33,000 for an official portrait of himself. The money for the painting was included in Newsome's proposed 2026 27 budget, which says that the funding would pay for the traditional painting of the governor's portrait that will be displayed in the state capital alongside previous governors. Here's one of the portraits of former Governor Jerry Brown. I don't know about you, but if this is the standard, I don't think we need $33,000.

[00:00:36]We just need 50 bucks and a junior high kid who can draw. Actually, I don't even think they need to be able to draw.

[00:00:42]Would you look at that? And if you want an authentic Southern California flavor, just tell the kid to huff some silver spray paint before he starts. Actually, scratch the kid. Just hire a forensic sketch artist. Tell them to draw the prime suspect in the mysterious disappearance of highspeed rail money.

[00:01:02]You'll get the exact same face for a fraction of the cost.

[00:01:07]Joe Biden is now suing the Justice Department to block the release of audio recordings from conversations he had with his ghostriter. Apparently, the tapes reveal what really happened to Corn Pop. And these are not just casual memoir tapes. These are recordings that investigators later used while questioning Biden's mental competency.

[00:01:27]Usually memoirs are about preserving your memory. Biden's apparently raised questions about whether he had one. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court just weeks before the Justice Department was expected to release the tapes and transcripts to Republican lawmakers. Biden had the private conversations with his biographer back in 2016 while working on his memoir 2016.

[00:01:53]That's back when Biden was still sharp enough to remember his own plagiarism.

[00:01:58]The tapes were later obtained by special counsel Robert her during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. her recommended against prosecution after listening to the tapes because Biden's declining memory would make it difficult to prove that he acted willfully.

[00:02:15]This could be the first presidential audio release where the transcript just says long pause whispering staff enters room with new diaper.

[00:02:26]Samuel L. Jackson says that Karen Bass understands the needs of the people. And after four years of LA leadership, the people's main need appears to be a U-Haul and a forwarding address.

[00:02:39]These are the times we need someone who understands government, who also understands the needs of the people.

[00:02:46]Someone who will go in the streets and gather the people together, not someone who will divide them. Karen Bass is that person. Cam Bass for mayor.

[00:02:59]>> Jackson says that Karen Bass will gather people together. She already has, Sam.

[00:03:05]They're called homeless encampments.

[00:03:08]Lisa Rena does not want Spencer Pratt to be the mayor of Los Angeles.

[00:03:13]>> Who who should be the next mayor of LA?

[00:03:16]>> That is a good question.

[00:03:18]>> That's why I'm asking you. I am going to say I don't know yet.

[00:03:25]Not a reality star though. I'm sorry. I love him, but we've already done that.

[00:03:29]We're not going to do that again. Cuz listen, I'm a reality person. You wouldn't want me as mayor.

[00:03:37]>> If there's a lip filler shortage in Los Angeles, I think we know where the supply chain broke down.

[00:03:43]>> Really? I mean, let's just face it. I love him. I think he's amazing. I just think we did that. Let's have somebody that's already been mayor. The mayor of San Jose or whoever. I don't even know.

[00:03:55]>> No, that would be for governor.

[00:03:56]>> Governor. No, I like him.

[00:03:58]>> This is why she should not run for >> Exactly. I like him for governor.

[00:04:03]>> Rena was a bit confused there. The mayor of San Jose is not running for mayor of Los Angeles. He's running in the California governor's race. Nothing says leave politics to the experts like not knowing who is running for what.

[00:04:19]And now on to the comments section.

[00:04:21]First on the segment about the uh candidate in California running for Congress where she wouldn't stand for the pledge of allegiance. She actually would face the other way and turn just crazy. We had this from uh Cell Kits Kiss 56. Did the Sacramento California trader turning her back on the US flag take her oath of office?

[00:04:44]And I I think she actually did take her oath of office and I wanted to see what her oath of office actually said. So, um I actually pulled this up on Justice.

[00:04:55]Just Justia. Did we decide that's how you say it? Just I don't know exactly how you say this, but I've seen the website a lot for for legal stuff. So, this is actually the oath of office in the state of California for someone like her. So this is what she would have taken for her position. Um uh I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

[00:05:24]Man, it starts with that. It starts with that. And the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States.

[00:05:37]Okay, that sure sounds like she should be doing the pledge of allegiance, doesn't it? I mean, it really does. Um, and then later in in the oath that she would have taken, it says this. And I do further swear or affirm that I do not advocate nor am I a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that now advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States.

[00:06:04]Now, if you if you refuse to do the pledge of allegiance, are you sure that you're not advocating for the overthrow of the government? I Anyway, it it's it's crazy to me that it is in the oath and she took the oath and she still is not standing for the pledge. And I did a little bit of digging and the thing the case law currently in the United States is that you don't have to actually say the pledge of allegiance. they distinguish being uh let's see if I actually pulled some stuff up here. Um yeah, the central argument and the thrust from the case law is that the oath of office is a promise to uphold the constitution, not a promise to salute symbols like the flag. So that is why she supposedly can do that. So here's actually the Supreme Court case.

[00:06:57]Um let's see. The highest court in the United States has explicitly ruled that the government cannot force anyone to participate in patriotic rituals. In the 1943 case, West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnett, the Supreme Court ruled that forcing people to salute the flag or say the pledge is unconstitutional.

[00:07:19]The court famously wrote, "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion."

[00:07:34]So that is why she can do that. But clearly, if somebody is doing that, they should not be elected to office. That is insane.

[00:07:45]I just think good Americans would never vote for someone who does that. Come on.

[00:07:53]So, apparently they can't force her to do it. And that's because of um you know, constitutional rulings from the Supreme Court, but don't put don't put her in Congress. Whoever's in that I think it's district 7 in California.

[00:08:07]Don't please don't vote for her. Uh okay. Then on that same particular segment, we had this from uh Randall Dare 4027 Meang uh don't want the Communist Party of China to see her facing the flag. Uh one more Democrat showing their true colors. Yes. This reminded me, you remember, you guys remember this, right?

[00:08:31]was just what a couple of week a couple of weeks ago. This uh California mayor Eileene Wang, she admitted to acting as a Chinese spy and then resigned in this plea deal. Um this is crazy. This is so close together seeing I know this is Eene Wang and not that was May Bang. It's not the same person actually. So, I don't know if I saw that picture. I don't It's not It's not the same person. But anyway, here are snippets from that earlier article. Uh, a California mayor admitted to acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigning from her position in a shocking federal plea deal unsealed on Monday.

[00:09:18]Democrat Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People's Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 22. She was elected to the city council in Arcadia, a city in the San Gab Gabriel Valley within LA County. So yeah, this is getting to be a thing, a kind of a habit in very blue parts of California. We have some great conservative folks in California. I because I know a lot of you message me and you comment. So I know there are a lot of really good people in California. They're just overwhelmed by really far-left progressives who just ruin everything.

[00:10:05]Anyway, all right. Hey, thank you for watching Headlines and thanks for your comments. I'm Wes Austin. Good night.

[00:10:12]>> Please like, comment, and subscribe.