California Gov. Gavin Newsom was ridiculed this week for trying to pass off California as the “national model” for tackling homelessness in the country.

Newsom made the remarks on Tuesday during an announcement of a $3.3. Billion fund to combat homelessness in California.

“The state of California saw a decline in veteran’s homelessness,” he said, adding that “we have a national model.”

Indeed California has seen a 30% reduction in veteran homelessness since 2012. However, the state still cannot be a model on this issue as 28% of the homeless in America live in California, according to a 2023 federal report. The report also determined that people sleeping on the streets in the state accounted for about half of the entire nation’s total.

“Los Angeles, which has more homeless people than any other US city at a staggering 65,111 people, saw its homelessness rate increase by nine percent in 2023 compared to the previous year,” the Daily Mail pointed out.

The number of unsheltered homeless in California is 123,000, eight times higher than the number of unsheltered homeless in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida, which stands at just 15,000.

Newsom’s claims of California being a model for the handling of homelessness earned him criticism on social media, with Rep. Kevin Riley (R-CA) writing, “This is the height of delusion.”

“Newsom is right, we are a national model, but in the negative sense. Let the nation see us as a dire warning of how not to handle homelessness,” a comment read, while another individual wrote, “The model: We don’t know what we did or where the money went.”

“Homelessness and green energy are two of the biggest money laundering operations in California,” a fourth conservative commented.

Red State Columnist and author Buzz Patterson also weighed in, writing, “Homelessness is the worst it’s ever been in CA. His ‘model’ doesn’t work.”

“I’ve got homeless peeps living in rv’s all over my little business park. They work in the area and move their rv’s every two days. That’s the middle class homeless…” another user noted.