Newsom’s viral ‘Latinx’ claim crumbles amid scrutiny of his own administration’s online records

California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed that his office had never used the term “Latinx” during a recent interview, but a Fox News Digital review found this claim to be false.

“By the way, not one person ever in my office has ever used the word Latinx,” Newsom said in his viral podcast episode with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. 

“I just didn’t even know where it came from. What are people talking about?” he added.

But posts from the governor and official documentation from his office pour cold water on this claim.

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In an X post from 2019, Newsom tweeted the term in reference to a study on childhood poverty on his official government account.

On his personal account, the California Democrat used the term when discussing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“#COVID19 disproportionately impacts the Latinx community,” he tweeted. “Rising rates in the Central Valley are concerning. CA is making $52M available to increase testing, contact tracing and quarantine efforts, and sending strike teams to 4 counties with increased cases and hospitalizations.”

In 2023, he said that the Republican Party has “politicians that are banning not assault rifles, but the word Latinx.”

Brooks Allen, Education Policy Advisor to the Governor, used “Latinx” in a 2023 letter about the state’s Ethnic Studies model.

“The model is grounded in the foundational curricular areas of the ethnic studies tradition – African American Studies, Native American Studies, Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies, and Latinx American Studies,” he wrote at the time.

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The term has also come up in official press releases and documentation from Newsom’s office. In Oct. 2020, it was used to promote a conversation the governor had with singer Becky G about the “youth vote” that was posted to the official governor’s office website. 

A month prior, it was used in a news release on bills related to small businesses in the midst of the pandemic.

“Minority-owned businesses are disproportionately impacted: the number of active businesses owned by African-Americans dropped by 41%, Latinx by 32%, Asians by 25%, and immigrants by 36%,” the release stated.

The term was used again in 2021 when it came to addressing learning gaps related to pandemic school closures.

“The campaign will reach out to parents in areas hardest hit by the pandemic – especially Latinx, African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander parents of school-aged children – with $25 million from AB 86 to support the safe opening of schools during the next fiscal year,” it stated.

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It’s also used on the governor’s web page for First Partner Jennifer Seibel Newsom’s “Farm to School” effort.

“Today, over 2 million children in California do not have access to healthy, whole foods, with Black and Latinx children reporting food insecurity twice that of children in white households,” the website states.

On the Governor’s Council for Career Education website, it uses the term on its “Research Findings Summary” page. A former education policy associate for Newsom, who currently serves as his assistant deputy cabinet secretary, said “Latinx” in a 2021 X post.

“Economic recovery with higher education that is more equitable, resilient and coordinated to improve outcomes for Black, Latinx, API, Indigenous and Adult learner students who disproportionately are denied access and impacted by the pandemic,” Michael Wiafe said.

A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital that “Latinx” is “not a term that is widely used in his Administration. Some staff have used it from time to time.”

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The term is considered widely unpopular among Latinos and Hispanics and even offensive in some cases, according to NBC News. 

A Pew Research Center study from 2024 determined that 51% of Hispanic American adults were unfamiliar with the term “Latinx” and only 4% actually say the term, which proponents say is meant to be a gender-neutral alternative to Latino.