California Governor Gavin Newsom used the Bible to criticize the Trump administration for the ongoing government shutdown, announcing a lawsuit over the suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Discussing his time at a “wonderful Jesuit university,” Newsom said, “If there was anything I remember about my four years with Father Cos is that the New Testament, Old Testament have one thing dominantly in common, Matthew, Isaiah, Luke, Proverbs. I mean, go down the list. It’s around food.”
He claimed the Scripture passages are about “serving those that are hungry.” Newsom argued that serving the poor is “not a suggestion in the Old and New Testaments,” but is “core and central to what it is to align to God’s will period, full stop.”
“They’re sitting there in their prayer breakfasts. Maybe they got an edited version of Donald Trump’s Bible and they edited all of that out,” the governor added. “I mean, enough of this. Cruelty is the policy. That’s what this is about. It’s intentional cruelty, intentionally creating anxiety for millions and millions of people, 5.5 million here in our home state.”
“We’re going to win this lawsuit,” Newsom declared.
California, along with more than 20 other states, accused the Trump administration of “needlessly suspending November SNAP benefits, causing 5.5 million Californians to lose critical access to $1.1 billion in food assistance,” his office said in a press release. The state plans to fast-track $80 million in state funds to “stabilize food bank food distribution and offset delays in federal CalFresh benefits.”
