California Governor Gavin Newsom has responded to claims that he secretly helped fund a nearly $100,000 bronze bust of himself that sits inside San Francisco City Hall, calling them “categorically false.”
“To imply the Governor personally funded or proposed this effort is categorically false,” a spokesperson for Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “As is customary in the city, the effort was independently proposed by a nonprofit and funded by private donors — not taxpayers… This was reported at the time and isn’t news now.”
A new book, written by Susan Crabtree and Jedd McFatter, and titled “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All,” claims Newsom used something called “behested payments” – or contributions from donors that politicians ask them to make on their behalf – to help fund the statue.
The book claims two companies owned by Newsom donated about $10,000 to a non-profit to help pay for the bronze bust on a black granite base that is meant to commemorate Newsom’s time as mayor of the city.
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The Democrat was mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
“Businesses tied to the Newsom family made a modest contribution to the privately funded initiative and raised funds for the effort as reported publicly at the time,” Newsom’s office said. “The contributions were not in any way ‘secret’ as falsely claimed by some now.”
Back in 2015, San Francisco news outlet SFGate reported that Newsom called the bust a “strange thing,” and quoted him as saying: “I’m just awkward about it… But now the word is out.”
Newsom told SFGate the bust was the brainchild of his supporters and that it would be paid for with private funds. According to the outlet, Newsom said he didn’t even know who the supporters and fundraisers were.
The outlet also reported that Newsom sat for the bust with artist Bruce Wolfe multiple times. The work was finished in 2018, according to the San Francisco Arts Commission.
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Newsom’s office went on to blast the book itself, telling Fox News Digital:
“This publication should come with a free tinfoil hat, a lifetime subscription to InfoWars, and a VIP dinner with Elvis Presley and Bigfoot. The authors seem allergic to basic facts — especially the kind you can confirm with a 10-second Google search, like how many children the Governor has.”
Crabtree, one of the authors of the book, told Fox News Digital that the book never claims that Newsom organized the bust, and that they stand by their reporting on the project.
According to the San Francisco Arts Commission, the bust includes a bronze plaque with the following quote from Newsom:
“If you distill the essence of everything, what life is about, every single one of us is given a short moment in time on this planet and we all have one universal need and desire, and that is to love and be loved.”
Newsom’s office also pointed out that his bust sits next to several other busts of former city mayors, including Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein and George Moscone.
Not surprisingly, the internet erupted with reaction to the bust – with many blasting Newsom.
“Who commissions a bust of themself? Gavin Newsom who clearly thinks very highly of himself,” one user wrote on X. “That’s just kind of sick from a politician’s head. Look at me and see how great I am!”
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“Gavin Newsom’s new bust is the perfect symbol of his time as governor,” another user wrote. “Expensive and ultimately [u]seless for the people of California.”
“San Francisco needs a Bust Reduction! $97K Newscum Vanity Project,” another user remarked.
Newsom has emerged as somewhat of a darling for the Democrat party. He served as a surrogate for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during their 2024 campaign. He is considered a top contender to run for president in 2028.