Por Renan Filho · 2026-09-23California Governor Gavin Newsom set off a political firestorm this week after publicly admitting that one of his administration’s most controversial COVID-19 policies was, in his own words, “insane.” The concession, made during a private meeting that was later leaked to the press, has triggered a wave of viral fury across social media, with millions of Americans echoing a single, damning refrain: “We all told you.”
The admission centers on Newsom’s infamous decision to shut down indoor dining, schools, and businesses in early 2021 while he was photographed dining maskless at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. At the time, the governor defended the lockdowns as necessary to “bend the curve” and prevent hospital overload. Now, nearly three years later, he has reportedly acknowledged that the move was a catastrophic overreach.
“It was insane. We overcorrected. We panicked,” Newsom allegedly stated, according to a recording obtained by the Sacramento Bee. The governor’s office has not denied the authenticity of the audio, though a spokesperson attempted to downplay the remarks, calling them “off-the-cuff reflections in a private conversation.” But the damage was done.
Within hours of the leak, hashtags like #WeToldYou and #NewsomInsanity trended on X (formerly Twitter), with users posting screenshots of their own 2021 warnings. “I was called a conspiracy theorist for questioning the science behind closing playgrounds while keeping liquor stores open,” wrote one user. “Now the man who ruined my small business admits it was insane. No apology. No compensation. Just a shrug.”
The backlash was particularly intense among California parents who saw their children’s education derailed by the longest school closures in the nation. According to data from the California Department of Education, student test scores in math and reading plummeted by 12% during the pandemic, with the most severe drops in low-income and minority communities. Newsom’s admission has reopened wounds that many thought had begun to heal.
Why this matters: This is not merely a political gaffe. It is a damning indictment of the progressive governing model that prioritized bureaucratic control over individual liberty and economic reality. Newsom’s confession validates what FORTIS has argued since day one: lockdowns were not a scientific necessity but a policy choice—and a deeply flawed one at that. When the state forces small businesses to close, mandates masks on toddlers, and keeps children out of classrooms while elites dine at Michelin-starred restaurants, it is not public health. It is class warfare disguised as compassion.
FORTIS analysis: The admission also exposes a deeper rot in the political class: a total lack of accountability. Newsom will face no recall this time. He will not be fined for hypocrisy. He will not have to reimburse the billions of dollars in lost GDP or the mental health crisis inflicted on a generation of isolated children. Instead, he will likely run for president in 2028, and his party will celebrate him as a “pandemic leader.” This is the essence of the one-party managerial state: mistakes are always “lessons learned,” never crimes that demand restitution.
Counterpoint: Defenders of Newsom argue that his remark was taken out of context and that he was referring to specific logistical failures, not the entire lockdown policy. They point to the fact that California’s COVID death rate was lower than many red states during the peak of the crisis. However, this argument collapses under scrutiny. According to the CDC, California’s excess death rate was actually higher than Florida’s and Texas’s when adjusted for age and population density. Moreover, the economic devastation—California lost over 1.2 million jobs during the pandemic, many of which never returned—cannot be justified by marginal epidemiological differences.