California Governor Gavin Newsom has hired a celebrity photographer, with a salary rivaling his own, further indicating his national ambitions, and that he may be gearing up for a presidential run in the not-so-distant future.
The Daily Caller reports:
The California Governor's Office hired photographer Charles Ommanney, who has worked for celebrity clients and worked as a photojournalist, in January to serve as its director of photography; a job that comes with a $200,000 taxpayer-funded salary, Politico reported on Friday. Many political insiders suspect that Newsom may have national ambitions, pointing to his eagerness to challenge Republicans outside his state on hot-button issues.
Newsom has engaged in multiple public spats with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, even proposing and participating in a debate with him during his presidential run. In the debate, Newsom made outlandish claims that anyone with internet access could easily verify as false, like California crime being at a “50 year low,” and that “more Floridians are moving to California than Californians moving to Florida.”
Ommanney has worked for celebrity clients such as Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama, according to Politico. He also appeared on “The Real Housewives of D.C.” in 2010, according to the New York Times. He also worked for decades in the press as a photojournalist at outlets like Newsweek and The Washington Post, at times traveling to destinations like Afghanistan or Rwanda to cover ongoing conflicts, according to his LinkedIn.
Newsom's generous spending on a photographer came as his state faced a projected $73 billion deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, according to a report released by the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. Analysts cited declining state revenue and high spending when calculating the large budgetary pitfall.
The once-beautiful California has become synonymous with high crime, high taxes, a high cost of living, rolling blackouts, homelessness, and authoritarianism — and Gavin Newson played a huge role in the Golden State decline. He spent $20 billion over five years to “combat homelessness” only for the rate of homelessness in California to increase. This led to inquiries from auditors about how and where the money was spent, and no one had answers. Apparently, the money was doled out to nonprofits without any accountability or tracking.
Newsom also enforced some of the strictest and longest lasting COVID “prevention” measures in the country, threatening to cut electricity to Californians' caught violating social distancing and stay at home orders, killing thousands of businesses with unscientific and extended lockdowns, and creating curfews as if a virus would decide not to spread from 10pm – 5am. He also requested the California Supreme Court remove the Taxpayer Protection Act from the ballot, which would have subjected all tax increases to a vote.
As a result, California is hemorrhaging residents left and right — and was second only to Illinois in the number of residents moving out of state in 2023.
If that's any indication of Newsom's leadership, it will likely take a lot more than flattering photos to give him a real shot at the White House.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Tell the photographer to make sure he gets a good starry glint off his greasy head.