The White House posted a win: 43 states now have gas under $3 per gallon. That’s what happens when you have an administration that actually wants Americans to afford driving their cars.

Mario Lopez saw it and couldn’t resist: “NOT California, that’s for sure…”

That’s it. Five words. And it lit up social media because everyone knows exactly what he’s talking about.

The California Exception

While most of America enjoys cheap gas, Californians are still getting hammered at the pump. The state’s combination of sky-high taxes, strangling regulations, and deliberate hostility toward the oil and gas industry means drivers there pay dramatically more than everywhere else.

This isn’t an accident. It’s policy. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation imposing ever-tighter regulations on refineries. His administration treats the fossil fuel industry like a villain to be punished rather than a sector that keeps the economy moving.

Newsom claims high prices are about “supply management and industry behavior”—his way of blaming oil companies instead of the government policies that make California uniquely expensive. Meanwhile, Texans are paying under $2 a gallon. Nevadans right across the border pay dramatically less.

Same oil. Same refineries. Different politicians.

The Response

Lopez’s followers jumped in fast.

“And clown Newsom is at Davos pretending to be presidential material,” one wrote. Because of course Newsom is at the World Economic Forum, rubbing elbows with globalist elites while his constituents struggle to fill their tanks.

“Not YET we will once @CAgovernor is gone from California,” another responded hopefully.

Others shared photos showing the price difference—pumps in Texas displaying $1.90-something per gallon next to California pumps showing more than double that. Visual proof of what Democratic governance costs.

“Because California politicians are deliberately keeping the state in poverty,” one commenter wrote. “Idc what these dead beat liberals say, EBT and section 8 is not wealth.”

The Bigger Picture

Lopez taking a shot at Newsom matters because Hollywood usually marches in lockstep with Democratic politicians. Celebrities who criticize progressive governance tend to find themselves quietly blacklisted or loudly denounced.

But Lopez has been willing to break from the pack before. He’s not making elaborate political statements—just pointing out obvious absurdities that everyone can see.

Forty-three states have gas under $3. California doesn’t. That’s not complicated economics. It’s not market forces beyond anyone’s control. It’s the direct result of choices made by the state’s leadership.

Newsom wants to be president. He’s positioning himself as the future of the Democratic Party. But he can’t explain why the state he governs charges its residents dramatically more for basic necessities than almost anywhere else in the country.

The Davos Angle

The timing is perfect. While Newsom jets off to Switzerland to discuss climate policy and global governance with billionaires, ordinary Californians are calculating whether they can afford to drive to work.

That’s modern Democratic leadership in a nutshell. Grand visions discussed at exclusive conferences while the people back home deal with the consequences of policies designed to please environmentalists rather than serve citizens.

Lopez didn’t need a lengthy explanation. Five words captured the whole thing: “NOT California, that’s for sure…”

Sometimes the simplest observations cut the deepest. Forty-three states under $3. Not California. And everyone knows why.