Oh, you’ve got to love the timing. Operation Epic Fury drops like a thunderclap—joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes, precision, decisive, the kind of move that makes geopolitical chess players sit up straight—and what do we get from many in the Democrat Party? A synchronized chorus of “illegal,” “dangerous,” “criminal,” and whatever other doom-laced adjectives were within arm’s reach. It’s like somebody passed around a thesaurus and said, “Quick, find the scariest word you can.”
Let’s be clear about what happened. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and much of the Islamic Republic’s top brass were taken out in a coordinated strike early Saturday morning. That’s not a minor border scuffle. That’s a seismic shift in the Middle East power structure. And instead of at least pausing to assess what this means strategically—how it affects terror networks, oil markets, regional stability—the immediate reaction from the usual suspects was to clutch pearls and light up social media.
And speaking of social media, enter Gavin Newsom.
Now, the California governor—long rumored to have White House ambitions—hasn’t exactly been riding a wave of political momentum lately. His numbers have dipped, the gaffes have piled up, and 2026 isn’t shaping up to be the triumphant launchpad some once imagined. So when Operation Epic Fury hit the headlines, apparently someone on the taxpayer-funded comms team decided this was the perfect moment to get snarky online.
“We’re watching this space. Closely,” the official Governor Newsom Press Office account posted on X.
Average gas prices in California have stayed below $5 for nearly two years.
Trump’s new war is already rattling markets.
We’re watching this space. Closely.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 28, 2026
Watching what space, exactly? Outer space? Cyber space? The comment section? Because from the outside looking in, it sounds less like statesmanship and more like doomscrolling with a blue checkmark. You’d think running the largest state in the union would be a full-time job. But no, we’re “watching this space.” Closely. Riveting stuff.
And then came the response. Oh, it came.
The U.S. Oil & Gas Association didn’t just reply—they delivered a masterclass in receipts. They pointed out, with numbers straight from the California Energy Commission, exactly where California’s crude oil comes from. Iraq: about 21 percent. Brazil: 20 percent. Guyana: 16 percent. Ecuador: 14 percent. Colombia, Canada, Mexico, the UAE—add them up, and you’re looking at a state overwhelmingly dependent on foreign oil. Saudi Arabia rounds out the rest.
Time to school the Pajama Boy who runs this account for the Gov – because this isn’t the flex on Trump he thinks it is….
California imports 63% of is crude from foreign countries – despite sitting on at least 1.7 billion barrels of proven reserves.
According to the… https://t.co/G1azkrBPtp
— US Oil & Gas Association (@US_OGA) March 1, 2026
Let that sink in. The same political crowd that constantly lectures the rest of the country about “energy independence” and “green transitions” has managed to make California uniquely vulnerable to foreign supply shocks. The only state hyperventilating about rattling overseas oil markets is the one that chose to tie itself to them.
And then comes the kicker: “You’ve done this to yourselves.”
It’s blunt. It’s not poetic. But it’s accurate.
California didn’t stumble into this predicament. It engineered it. Years of aggressive regulatory pressure on domestic production, refineries fleeing the state, policies that make it nearly impossible to expand local energy infrastructure—and now, surprise!—you’re importing massive quantities of crude from halfway around the globe. If global instability spikes, guess who feels it first at the pump?
Hint: it’s not Texas.
And here’s the part that makes the online bravado especially risky: gas prices. If there is one topic Governor Newsom’s team should treat like a live wire, it’s the price at the pump. California routinely leads the nation in gas prices, often by a mile. Residents know it. Commuters feel it. Small businesses budget around it. Even with some recent easing—thanks in part to broader national shifts under Trump’s current administration—the scars of 2022 are still fresh. Sky-high fuel costs, layered regulations, aggressive climate mandates, and a not-so-subtle war on conventional energy left Californians paying the premium.
Gas in California is nearly $2 more per gallon than the national average
Gavin Newsom and his incompetent press team worrying about gas prices is the absolute height of comedy https://t.co/ICfqJv0Y47
— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) March 1, 2026
So when the press office account decides to flex online about a Middle East operation that directly intersects with global oil markets, it’s a little like juggling torches in a room full of gasoline fumes. Maybe not the wisest move.
There are topics a governor can brag about. Economic growth. Public safety. Infrastructure improvements. But homelessness? Affordability? Energy prices? Those are delicate subjects in the Golden State. They’re not exactly trophies for the mantle.
The bigger picture here is this: Operation Epic Fury represents a bold assertion of strength on the world stage. You can debate the strategy, you can analyze the long-term ripple effects, but what’s striking is how quickly some politicians pivoted to reflexive outrage instead of measured assessment. And when that outrage collides with their own policy vulnerabilities—like heavy dependence on foreign oil—the internet has a funny way of responding with receipts.
In politics, timing is everything. And sometimes, a single smug tweet can turn into a digital boomerang. If Governor Newsom plans to keep stepping into these crosswinds, he might want to double-check the forecast—and maybe have a quiet word with the comms team before the next “epic” clapback turns into another epic ratio.
