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Vice President JD Vance spoke to podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday about how California has declined under Gov. Gavin Newsom to the point that it gave him flashbacks to visiting a “third-world country.”
Vance recalled driving through a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles on his way to an elite Christmas party and was struck by the contrast between the two settings.
“And I realized when I was there, you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of going to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,” he said, as Rogan chuckled. “Like super security, crazy wealth and privilege and status on the inside, and squalor and misery on the outside.”
“It’s the first time I’d ever thought America, like this part of America, is actually more like a third-world country than anything that I thought we’d ever become,” he added.
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Vance noted that his wife, Usha, is from southern California, and they have spent a great deal of time in the state to the point that he felt “heartbreak” over the condition of Los Angeles.
“Because every time I’m in LA, you can see why this was like the quintessentially American city,” he said. “The architecture is beautiful. It’s got its own vibe going. Like you said, the weather is amazing. And then you drive through skid row, and you’re like, how could any state or any city let this happen?”
Rogan, who is a former Californian himself, has spoken about his reasons for leaving the state, and told Vance that he knows people who want to leave but are struggling to sell their houses.
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“Like it’s nuts there, man … First of all, you get gaslit by Gavin Newsom. He’s just gaslighting everybody about how well — ‘Oh, the GDP of like the fifth-largest country in the world. That’s what California is,'” Rogan said. “Hey bro, it was like that before you were the governor!”
Vance quipped that a good rule of thumb to determine how well a state is doing is by checking the cost of a U-Haul truck rental going there versus leaving.
Rogan recalled that he had spent many happy years in California, with all of its fun activities and warm weather, up until “politics ruined it.”
Rogan noted that the skid row area of the city — known for homeless encampments and crime — has actually been growing, claiming it expanded by five blocks.
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Fox News Digital contacted Newsom’s office for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
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