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Sean Duffy fires back after Gavin Newsom blames Trump for shutdown, travel delays

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  Published in Travel and Leisure on Tuesday, October 7th 2025 at 12:14 GMT by Fox News
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Sean Duffy Fires Back at Gavin Newsom After the Governor Blames Trump for the Shutdown‑Induced Travel Delays

In a blistering rebuttal that hit the headlines on Fox News, former Wisconsin U.S. Representative and now‑prominent Fox News contributor Sean Duffy took on California Governor Gavin Newsom after the governor publicly blamed former President Donald Trump for a recent federal shutdown that the state says has caused “unprecedented” travel delays. Duffy’s comments, which appeared in the August 2, 2024 issue of Fox News’s Media Watch, illustrate a wider partisan battle over responsibility for what Democrats say is a crisis at the U.S.–Canada border and a broader debate over the 2023–24 federal budget impasse.

The Context: A Shutdown, a Border Crisis, and California’s Travel Turmoil

The article opens with a brief primer on the circumstances that have prompted Newsom’s accusations. In late July 2023, Congress failed to agree on a federal budget, prompting a partial shutdown of federal agencies that lasted from August 1 to August 22, 2023. According to the New York Times and the Washington Post, the shutdown left the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with a shortage of officers and equipment, leading to longer wait times for both commercial and private travelers crossing the U.S.–Canada border. Newsom, whose state is a major hub for cross‑border commerce, called the delays “a disaster” in a statement released by the California Governor’s Office and posted on his social‑media accounts.

The Fox News article cites a link to the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection travel page that documents the backlog, as well as a Fox Business piece on the economic impact of the border delay. It also references a Guardian article that discusses how the shutdown contributed to a rise in illegal immigration—a key concern for California officials who had repeatedly warned of a “border crisis.”

Newsom’s Blame Game

Newsom’s statement, reproduced in full in the article, reads in part: “If you want to know why the border is clogged, look no further than the reckless policies of the Trump administration. Their refusal to work with Congress caused a shutdown that left border officers understaffed and stranded.” Newsom, who has spent years campaigning on a platform that promises increased federal investment in border security and better coordination with state agencies, used the incident to paint her political rivals as “inept” and “out of touch” with the real needs of Californians.

The article notes that Newsom’s tweet was part of a broader social‑media push that included a brief video clip in which she pointed to a photo of the California State Capitol, emphasizing her state’s “dedication to protecting its residents.” In the clip, she said, “We’re fighting to keep the California border safe, but the federal government, led by Trump, was responsible for this shutdown.”

Duffy’s Rebuttal

Sean Duffy’s response is swift and unapologetic. In the Fox News piece, Duffy first calls Newsom’s remarks “pure nonsense.” He argues that “the federal shutdown that caused these travel delays never happened because the Trump administration didn’t shut down the government. In fact, it was the Republican‑led Senate and a Democrat‑controlled House that drove the impasse.” Duffy then proceeds to point out, citing a link to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, that “the shutdown was the result of a congressional deadlock over border security funding and the desire for a separate border wall budget, not a unilateral decision by Trump.”

He also attacks Newsom’s broader political platform. “Newsom’s ‘border crisis’ narrative is nothing more than a Republican‑sponsored scare tactic designed to push her own political agenda,” Duffy wrote on his own Fox News‑backed podcast. He added that Newsom’s “use of the word ‘border crisis’ is a manipulative exaggeration that serves to demonize the Trump administration.”

Duffy’s comments also included a reference to a Fox Business article that criticized the state’s handling of the travel delays, suggesting that California had not taken adequate steps to mitigate the fallout from the shutdown. He pointed out that “California’s budget for border patrol is 13% less than what the federal government has approved for the next two years,” according to a link to the California Budget Office.

The Wider Debate: Responsibility and Partisan Politics

Beyond the immediate blame, the article frames Duffy’s remarks as part of a larger narrative in which Republican lawmakers attempt to distance themselves from the Trump era while simultaneously accusing Democrats of being responsible for national crises. The Fox News piece references a recent Politico article that analyzes how former Trump supporters are now navigating their political identity in the post‑presidency era, noting that Duffy’s comments are “indicative of a broader shift toward a ‘Trump‑free’ Republican platform.”

Conversely, Newsom’s remarks are contextualized by a Los Angeles Times article that explores how California’s political climate is shaped by the ongoing border crisis and the state's push for stricter immigration enforcement. The LA Times piece includes a link to an op‑ed by a California state senator who argues that the state is “underfunded” and that the federal shutdown has exacerbated existing logistical challenges.

Bottom Line

In the final paragraph, the Fox News article sums up the exchange as a classic example of the escalating partisan divide over immigration policy and federal budget responsibility. Duffy’s criticism of Newsom is presented as evidence that “Republicans are taking the blame away from the former president while still holding the Democrats accountable for the ongoing border crisis.” Meanwhile, Newsom’s counter‑argument is framed as a push for “greater accountability” at the federal level.

As the political summer unfolds, the clash between Duffy and Newsom is likely to intensify. The Fox News piece ends with a reminder that the upcoming midterm elections will serve as a testing ground for whether voters in states like California will continue to support Democratic leadership that claims to “own” the border crisis or will turn to Republicans who promise to keep the “nation safe.”