Gavin Newsom Celebrates California’s Economy Surging to 4th Largest In the World By Taking a Swipe at Fox News

Associated Press

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) celebrated his state’s economy surging to be the 4th largest in the world this week by taking a swipe at Fox News and how the state is portrayed on the network.

Newsom shared a screenshot of a Fox Business report titled, “California overtakes Japan to become world’s 4th largest economy.” He captioned the image, writing, “Fox News loves to say that CA is doomed.”

“The truth is — CA’s economy has continued to outperform the nation. We were just named the fourth largest economy in the WORLD — outpacing Japan. Our growth rate last year outpaced the U.S., China, and Germany,” he continued, taking aim at other popular negative talking points about his state:

Our state population is increasing.

We’re #1 for new business starts, access to venture capital funding, manufacturing, and agriculture.

California isn’t just keeping pace with the world… we’re setting the pace.

The Fox Business report noted that new data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revealed that California’s GDP is now greater than Japan’s. “The data also shows that, were California its own country, its growth rate would exceed the U.S. and any other nation in the world. The state’s nominal GDP grew at a rate of 6% in 2024, outpacing the U.S.’ 5.3% rate, China’s 2.6% rate and Germany’s 2.9% rate,” added the report. The U.S. remains the world’s largest economy, followed by China and Germany.

Newsom also used the news to hammer President Donald Trump’s tariffs, saying in a statement, “While we celebrate this success, we recognize that our progress is threatened by the reckless tariff policies of the current federal administration. California’s economy powers the nation, and it must be protected. These harms will only continue to grow, as President Trump’s tariffs are projected to shrink the U.S. economy by $100 billion annually.”