Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom faced backlash Tuesday after taking a swipe at President Donald Trump for high housing costs, using a chart showing a massive cost spike during the Biden administration.
On his X account, Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, shared a post reporting that U.S. homes are “now the most unaffordable in history,” along with a graph showing the income needed to qualify for a median-priced home from 2005 to 2026.
“Great work, @realDonaldTrump!” Newsom wrote.
However, several X users pointed out that although the chart reached its highest level during Trump’s second administration, it shows a substantial increase between 2021 and 2024, when former President Joe Biden was in office.
“Hey @GavinNewsom, who was president during the biggest uptick in home unaffordability?” the Libs of TikTok account asked.
Meteorologist Chris Martz wrote, “Evidently, @GavinNewsom doesn’t know how to read graphs. Housing prices skyrocketed under Joe Biden’s presidency.”
“California is the most unaffordable state in the country to buy a house, and it’s only gotten worse since Gavin Newsom took over. And no one in the media will call him out for saying this,” OutKick writer Ian Miller commented.
California Post opinion editor Joel Pollak wrote, “You would be ashamed if they broke it down by state.”
“Gavin, I guess you can’t read a graph. The biggest spike was before DJT took office,” actor Doug Davidson commented.
Author Jens Heycke joked, “Aspiring presidential candidate Gavin Newsom demonstrates that he is unable to read a simple graph. This level of numeric and economic illiteracy is disqualifying.”
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Other users compared Newsom’s post to a since-deleted X post from the official Democratic Party’s account featuring a graph claiming that “U.S. Grocery Prices Reached Record Highs in 2025” with prices “higher today than they were on July 2024” in categories such as dairy, produce and meat.
At the time, users pointed out that the graph, in fact, showed prices skyrocketing in 2021, when Biden was president, and only leveling off at the end of 2024 when Trump was re-elected.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Newsom’s post came as the California governor has been working to tackle housing affordability in his state. In 2025, he signed into law a housing package to exempt certain projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and streamline environmental review for qualifying housing and infrastructure development.
In July, he signed into law more housing affordability reforms focused on streamlining affordable-housing financing and project reviews.
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White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Trump is more “laser-focused” on affordability than the “incompetent” Newsom.
“Unlike incompetent Governor Gavin Newscum, President Trump has been laser-focused on making housing more affordable. The president signed an executive order prohibiting large Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds that helped drive rates to four-year lows and cut unnecessary red tape at a historic pace to boost supply, speed construction, and lower costs,” Ingle said.
“The president will not stop fighting until the American dream of homeownership is within reach for every American, which is why he continues to sign bold new executive orders and calls on Congress to pass further legislation.”
