California Governor Gavin Newsom is under fire for proclaiming that the state has doubled the amount of National Guard at the U.S. Southern Border, a claim that some have suggested is an outright fabrication.
On Thursday, Newsom posted a video to social media from the San Ysidro Port of Entry. In it, he said his team was meeting with the National Guard as well as Customs and Border Patrol agents.
“We have 390 National Guardsmen and women that have been working, particularly as it relates to fentanyl, here in the state of California. Look, at the bottom line at the end of the day, they need more resources,” he said.
“Everybody needs more resources, and the Republican Party has been consistently standing in the way of providing the resources to support the men and women working hard, not only here at the border, but throughout the state of California and this country, to address the issues related to the border,” Newsom continued.
NEWSOM URGED TO HALT PROGRESSIVES’ ‘SCHEMING’ TO DERAIL POPULAR ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE
In his video caption, Newsom claimed California had doubled the number of National Guard troops at the border.
OutKick host Tomi Lahren said on “Fox & Friends First,” that Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin and Fox News correspondent Matt Finn “smacked down” and “rebuffed” Newsom’s claims.
Melugin said Thursday that he has not seen a single California National Guard soldier in Jacumba, the site where massive numbers of adult men from around the world are illegally crossing. He reported that Border Patrol is overwhelmed by migrants wandering on highways and calling Lyfts for themselves while waiting to be picked up.
“I sent Gov. Newsom’s below post to a BP agent in Jacumba, who responded by laughing & telling me CA ‘isn’t doing s—’ to help them with illegal crossings there, and any soldiers that they see there are National Guard from other states working w/ DHS under federal Title 10 order,” Melugin said.
“He said CA soldiers are helping with drug interdiction at ports of entry – not the mass crossing hot spots in Jacumba. If the Governor’s office has any images of CA National Guard helping Border Patrol in Jacumba, I’m happy to update,” he added.
Finn also weighed in on Newsom’s video.
“We’re at the CA border right now in Jacumba, Governor Newsom. We see migrants illegally crossing all hours of the day. From China, Iran, Yemen. Nepal. Haven’t seen a single CA National Guard over the past week,” he posted on X.
Lahren, reacting to the tweet exchange, said Newsom was taking a “vanity shot” at the border and had issued a “bold-faced lie” to his constituents and the American people.
“It’s so textbook Gavin Newsom that it actually hurts,” she said.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital, “The Governor’s words speak for themselves.”
