Gavin Newsom’s ‘Free’ Diapers Scheme – Gift or Grift?

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced a state-funded program to give away diapers to 100,000 new parents in the state. The diaper distribution scheme will cost California’s taxpayers $20 million. While this sounds like another political stunt ahead of the gubernatorial race, these gifts for parents from a Democratic nanny state are not free of a catch – and it’s tied to none else than Newsom’s wife.

When Democrats offer “free” stuff to people, it always means the taxpayer is paying for it. California Globe (May 9) was ready to remind people of this fact which also applies to other “free” programs of the Newsom administration like school meals and expanded paid family leave etc. In addition, as the story mentioned, Newsom’s state-funded diaper scheme will also give away these items to illegal aliens residing in the state.

The Daily Signal went into the details of the program’s financial assessment, considering the cost of the diapers at popular stores, and called it overpriced state diapers.

However, the detail that attracted most attention relates the source through which the Newsom administration will fund these gifts to new parents. Several conservative publicans and numerous social media influencers highlighted the fact that the diaper giveaway program will be carried out by the non-profit organization Baby2Baby where Newsom’s wife Norah Weinstein is a CEO.   

California Globe cited some financial stats from the Baby2Baby organization and called Newsom’s scheme a $20 million grift:

And if Gov. Newsom was not running a new $20 million grift through a $77 million “non-profit,” the state could just provide coupons for free diapers to new mothers. But then money couldn’t be disappeared into a non-profit, or co-mingled, or diverted.

The story also mentioned that Baby2Baby manufactures its own diapers in Mexico while the so-called non-profit receives over 80% of its funding from the public.

California-based conservative author and social media influencer Peachy Keenan called Newsom’s “free” diaper scheme another of his “corrupt NGO money laundering operation” and added that Newsom’s plan is “more full of poop than a newborn’s Huggies.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton also questioned Newsom’s plan by actually going to a Target store and showing the current diaper prices in comparison with what they would cost in Newsom’s plan. Newsmax played Hilton’s clip in its commentary on the issue and highlighted the connection to Newsom’s wife. One of the panelists on the show also said that the quality of diapers made by Baby2Baby is terrible.