California Gov. Gavin Newsom's attempt to criticize former President Donald Trump's housing record backfired Tuesday when the chart he posted to document declining affordability showed the steepest increases occurred during President Joe Biden's term, not Trump's.
Newsom's X post included the line "Great work, @realDonaldTrump!" but the data visualization told a different story. The chart showed housing affordability, measured by the income needed to qualify for a median-priced home, remained relatively stable from 2005 through 2020. It then spiked dramatically between 2021 and 2024, the Biden years. While the line extends higher into 2025 and 2026 under Trump's second term, the visual narrative overwhelmingly documents a crisis that accelerated during Newsom's governorship.
"This is the kind of unforced error that typically triggers deeper scrutiny of a politician's record," the analysis noted.
Since taking office in 2019, Newsom has signed multiple pieces of housing legislation. In 2025, he signed a housing package exempting certain projects from the California Environmental Quality Act, a significant move given that CEQA reviews have long been cited as a bottleneck for development. That year also saw additional reforms aimed at streamlining affordable-housing financing and project reviews. In July, he signed further affordable-housing legislation focused on expediting the permitting process.
Heritage Foundation economist Peter St. Onge acknowledged that Newsom's recent moves embrace reforms "long championed by free market economists," though Onge questioned whether California possesses the political and bureaucratic capacity to overcome its regulatory barriers at the necessary pace.
Housing affordability is a lagging indicator. Zoning reform, streamlined permitting and environmental review exemptions take months or years to translate into completed units and lower prices. The chart documenting data through 2026 captures a period in which Newsom's legislative actions have not yet had time to measurably affect supply or pricing.
The White House responded swiftly to Newsom's post. Spokesperson Davis Ingle characterized Trump as "laser-focused" on affordability while calling Newsom "incompetent." The Trump administration cited executive actions including a prohibition on large Wall Street investors purchasing single-family homes, direction to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds, and aggressive deregulation to boost supply.
Both administrations claim to address supply constraints through different mechanisms. Neither has sufficient time to demonstrate measurable impact on affordability metrics yet.
Newsom's office did not respond to requests for comment on the discrepancy between his caption and the data the chart displays.
A similar incident occurred when the Democratic National Committee's official X account posted a graph in 2025 claiming "U.S. Grocery Prices Reached Record Highs in 2025." The graphic was later deleted after users pointed out it actually documented price spikes in 2021, during Biden's first term, with prices leveling off by late 2024.
For Newsom, the more pressing question is whether California's recent housing reforms will actually improve affordability. That answer likely won't be visible for another year or two.
