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JONATHAN TURLEY: Grandstanding Newsom will stop at nothing to ride the rails to glory in 2028

10 122
07.02.2026

Fox News' Jesse Watters criticizes Dem California Gov. Gavin Newsom's video announcing construction of California's high-speed rail beginning construction after over a decade and $15 billion spent.

In the dystopian novel "1984,"  George Orwell wrote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." 

The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere. 

Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad.

I have been writing about this boondoggle for years. Newsom promised years ago that the project would be transformative. It was, but not as he promised.

CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US

Voters approved a $9.95 billion bond issue in 2008 after absurdly low estimates of the projected cost. Influential figures and companies stood to make a fortune, and the key was to secure a "buy-in" worth billions, so that it would become increasingly difficult to abandon the project as overruns and delays sent costs soaring.

Now the official estimate of future ridership has dropped by 25%, and it demands billions more to complete a project delayed by decades. Remember that this entire project was meant to create a rail line of only 171 miles. It is projected to exceed $128 billion and could ultimately cost a billion dollars per mile. There are still uncompleted environmental assessments and challenging rail lines through the mountains.

Gov. Gavin........

© Fox News