California’s progressive Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom posted an ad bragging about California’s economy and knocking President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but then quickly deleted it after an X user pointed out that the video used footage from Ukraine and Estonia rather than California.
The footage has since been replaced with video shot in America.
The governor, a vocal Trump critic who has been rumored to have presidential aspirations, released the ad this week. In the 30-second clip, Newsom claimed that Trump’s tariffs “punish families and risk ending America’s run as the world’s greatest economy.”
He also touted California’s economic prowess, bragging that the state is now the fourth-largest economy in the world.
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While Newsom brags about California innovation and manufacturing, the ad plays footage of what looks like a high-tech office and a large warehouse. One X user was quick to point out, however, that the footage used in the ad was actually shot in Ukraine and Estonia, not California.
Another X user, Brandon Phillips, a Georgia GOP operative, quipped, “Minor detail!” in response to parts of the California ad actually being shot in Eastern Europe.
A simple internet search shows that the warehouse imagery was created in Ukraine by a Ukrainian photographer and videographer named “Artie Medvedev.”
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Meanwhile, the office footage used in the ad was made by a company called “Gorodenkoff Productions,” which is based in Tallinn, Estonia.
Newsom’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, his team ended up removing the video with Ukrainian and Estonian footage, replacing it with one that lacked the foreign footage noticed by X users.
Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, told Fox News Digital Newsom’s “quick swap of foreign footage in his ad after getting caught is just the latest example” of the governor being “more focused on his own political future than on keeping Californians safe.”
“From breaking his own COVID rules at the French Laundry to exaggerating wildfire prevention, he has a history of bending the truth,” said Rankin. “It’s ironic that he runs a ‘misinformation’ website while consistently misleading the public. Californians deserve a Governor who’s focused on real solutions, not political theater.”
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Newsom has been heavily criticized for allegedly prioritizing his political ambitions above his role as governor. A new survey conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times found that 54% of California registered voters believe Newsom is more focused on his personal presidential ambitions than solving the ongoing problems at home in the Golden State.
Trump has said he would “love” Newsom to launch a White House bid for the Democrats, but said the governor’s response to wildfires and other issues would “pretty much put him out of the race.”
Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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