Gov. Gavin Newsom is back from vacation and in his first order of business the former San Francisco mayor flew to El Salvador to learn about the poverty and violence forcing it's residents to flee.
His ultimate point in traveling to the Central American nation was to demonstrate an alternative to 'President Trump's demoralizing rhetoric.'
Trump recently moved to halt foreign aid to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Newsom met Trump's actions with some harsh words for the president.
"Right now you have a president that talks down to people, talks past them, demoralizing folks living here and their relatives in the United States," Newsom told reporters. "I think it's important to let folks know that's not our country — that's an individual in our country who happens at this moment to be president."
Over his four-day trip, Newsom plans to meet with President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, U.S. Ambassador Jean Manes and President-elect Nayib Bukele. He will also meet with human rights groups and discuss economic development and gang intervention.
Newsom said he is figuring out what California can do to help 'tackle the root causes of migration' and will tour a reintegration center that processes Salvadorans deported from the U.S. and Mexico.
While the Trump administration has not commented on Newsom's trip, many California residents are asking why the governor is visiting other places when he should be more focused on poverty in our own state.
"How do you understand California without understanding all the diverse cultures that make it the most diverse state?" Newsom said in response to the critics. "It's fundamental, it seems to me, to governing a state. That's why I'm here in the first months."
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