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| - Did Fox News report that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will withhold California's $235 billion 2025 federal income tax? No, that's not true: A Fox News spokesperson told Lead Stories that this was not reported on Fox News. Also, the claim originally appeared on an account describing itself as "Raw Unfiltered Parody."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on November 9, 2024. The text said:
BREAKING FOX NEWS: Reliable sources are reporting that California governor Gavin Newsom will withhold California's 235 billion dollar 2025 federal income tax. This is a developing story.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Mon Nov 18 18:37:04 2024 UTC)
The post included separate photos of Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump, implying a connection between the purported withholding of taxes and Trump's re-election as president.
Lead Stories reached out to Fox News about the claim of its supposed reporting. A spokesperson responded via email on November 18, 2024, writing:
I can confirm this was not reported on FOX News.
Newsom's office told Lead Stories via email on November 18, 2024, the claim was "absolutely false." The office shared a message from Newsom posted on X (archived here) on November 9, 2024, and a statement (archived here) released on November 6, 2024, after Trump won re-election on November 5, 2024. Neither said he was going to withhold California's federal taxes in 2025.
Had Newsom made such a claim, it would have been national and international news. A Google search (archived here) of foxnews.com and the quote "Gavin Newsom will withhold California's $235 billion 2025 federal income tax," does not match any actual news reports.
The claim first appeared on a self-described parody account (archived here), which describes its contents as "Raw Unfiltered Parody":
BREAKING FOX NEWS: Reliable sources are reporting that California governor Gavin Newsom will withhold California's 235 billion dollar 2025 federal income tax. This is a developing story. pic.twitter.com/5qw1PpsKzC-- Staff Sergeant Johnson (@Colonel_Myway) November 9, 2024
The account then posted an apology message (archived here) saying it was a joke:
Before I shut down my Twitter account, I want to apologize to California governor Gavin Newsom. I didn't realize that 3.2 million people would fall for a joke from a clearly labeled parody account. I hope to see all my friends on Bluesky. There I am PatMaguire10. ✌️❤️😊 pic.twitter.com/pgpCWNgxgz-- Staff Sergeant Johnson (@Colonel_Myway) November 12, 2024
This claim has also been reviewed by other fact check agencies, including Reuters.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims about Gavin Newsom can be found here and claims about the 2024 election can be found here.
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