Gavin Newsom's Press Office Is Trying to Do a Clean Up in the 'Free Diaper' Aisle and It's NOT Going Well

A few days ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a "FREE DIAPERS" program which raised some eyebrows after people started connecting a few dots.

A little background if you missed it:

California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-nation program announced Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
During the program's first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom's office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor's office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label "Golden State Start."
[...]
The state set aside $7.4 million in last year's budget to roll out the initiative, and this year's budget proposal includes an additional $12.5 million to implement the program for the upcoming fiscal year ending in June 2027.

One more detail that Newsom probably hoped would fly under the radar:

Gavin Newsom just announced a shiny new taxpayer funded program giving free diapers to newborns leaving California hospitals and his administration is partnering with Baby2Baby with almost $20 MILLION in state funds to manufacture them.

I’m sure it’s a total coincidence that… pic.twitter.com/EBdnvpyjwN
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) May 8, 2026

"I’m sure it’s a total coincidence that one of Baby2Baby’s Co-CEOs, Norah Weinstein, sits on the board of Gavin Newsom’s wife’s California Partners Project."

Grift detectors then started going off loudly.

THIS IS FALSE.

MAGA and the NY Comic Book are once again spreading lies:

FACT: It’s a $6.2 million contract (not $20 million)

FACT: It covers 40 million diapers in year one — about 15.5 cents per diaper (not 50 cents as claimed).

FACT: Baby2Baby was chosen through a rigorous… https://t.co/Dpg8Dzrkzg
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) May 11, 2026

Here's their defense, and keep in mind that this account frequently lies so try not to laugh every time they say "FACT":

FACT: It’s a $6.2 million contract (not $20 million)
FACT: It covers 40 million diapers in year one — about 15.5 cents per diaper (not 50 cents as claimed).
FACT: Baby2Baby was chosen through a rigorous COMPETITIVE procurement process. It is a national nonprofit, based in California, with strong experience in delivering diapers for families in need and in the last 15 years they have distributed over 300 million diapers to families in need across the country.

Really? Let's start here:

Gavin Newsom reposted this article from ABC.
$7.4 million + $12.5 million = $19.9 million. 🤷🏻‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/w8iDREJlMK
— geekenvogue (@geekenvogue) May 11, 2026

Governor, what is $7.4 million + $12.5 million? It’s about $20 million. pic.twitter.com/1KNLtyYbzL
— Rachel Keuler (@rkeuler) May 11, 2026

Fact: You are lying, again

Fact: The state had already allocated $7.4 million in the prior year’s budget for the initiative.
Newsom’s budget proposal includes an additional $12.5 million for implementation through the fiscal year ending June 2027.

Putting the total at…
— Curiously Curious (@serena4d) May 11, 2026

Then there's this total coincidence:

“Baby2Baby was chosen through a rigorous COMPETITIVE procurement process” that just so happens to award nearly $20 million taxpayer dollars to Gavin Newsom’s wife’s BFF that just so happens to sit on her board https://t.co/KFczscCD7W
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) May 11, 2026

Imagine the odds!

You’re lying. The only rigorous selection that took place was finding a NGO your wife was connected to https://t.co/sPYjzAJDpw
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 11, 2026