California Governor Gavin Newsom recently stunned a public forum when he boasted that “it is the regulations that created Tesla,” crediting the state’s regulatory framework for the rise of Elon Musk’s electric car empire. The governor’s claim — delivered as part of a broader pitch about California’s climate leadership — landed with a thud among conservatives who actually pay the taxes and face the regulatory burdens he praised.
That kind of chest-thumping rings hollow when you remember Tesla officially moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas in December 2021 and Musk has long griped about California’s high taxes and heavy-handed rules. Instead of thanking the people who build and innovate, Newsom would have us believe that bureaucrats and programs are the real brains behind American entrepreneurship — an insult to risk-takers who start companies, create jobs, and take on markets.
Let’s be clear about the money behind the mythology: California’s own accounting and outside analysts show billions flowed to support zero-emission vehicle credits and other subsidies that helped Tesla scale. Governor Newsom’s office pointed to billions in ZEV credits as a major factor, and critics note that the state’s “market mechanisms” have been anything but free-market. Taxpayers deserve to know that when a politician claims credit for creating a private company, he’s really bragging about how many public dollars he funneled into it.
The hubris isn’t just about money — it’s about a worldview that thinks central planners and regulators are superior to entrepreneurs. Newsom even defended regulatory tools like CEQA while acknowledging they’re often abused, a strange posture for someone claiming those rules are the reason Silicon Valley exists. If regulations were truly the secret sauce, why are so many businesses fleeing the state for friendlier tax and legal climates?
Conservative commentators and independent journalists have rightly pointed out the hypocrisy and used clips of Newsom’s remarks to underline how the left rewrites history to praise state power. This isn’t mere sniping; it’s a battle over who gets credit for prosperity — the people who take risks and invest, or the political class that redistributes rewards and demands applause.
The lesson for hardworking Americans is simple: worshipping regulation and spending while pretending it creates wealth is a recipe for decline, not renewal. States like Texas that embraced lower taxes and less suffocating red tape have become magnets for employers and the middle-class families who want opportunity, not sermons about the genius of “and.”
Politicians who take credit for private-sector success while clinging to the very policies that chase jobs away must be held accountable at the ballot box. Patriots who believe in free enterprise, limited government, and fiscal responsibility should demand leaders who honor entrepreneurs instead of claiming them as trophies for the state. America built Tesla; left-wing politicians didn’t create it — and it’s time they stop pretending they did.
