White House: Gavin Newsom Closed Highway During JD Vance's Trip to U.S. Marine Corps Event — 'Petty Little Man'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) unnecessarily shut down a highway over Vice President JD Vance’s appearance at the U.S. Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebration at Camp Pendleton on Saturday, according to the White House.

Newsom sparred online with the White House prior to the celebration, and said he was shutting down a section of Interstate 5 near the base during the event, according to Fox News, which caused major traffic delays.

Newsom blamed the road issues on President Donald Trump, and later accused his administration of denying that freeway shutdowns were needed despite the use of live munitions, the Fox article said.

The White House responded by saying the governor was lying.

“He closed the highway — not only did nobody at the White House or the Marines ask him to do so, the Marines repeatedly said there are no public safety concerns with today’s exercises. Newscum lies and tries to make it about himself? Day ending in ‘y,'” the Rapid Response 47 account wrote:

Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz on Saturday pointed to the fact that Vice President JD Vance attended the celebration, saying the governor “is shutting down a major CA highway just because JD Vance is in the state. Inconveniencing tens of thousands of Americans. What a petty little man.”

Others also joined the discussion about Newsom shutting down the highway:

A reported press release from U.S. Marines prior to the event said the highways would be able to remain open:

The Fox article said William Martin, who is special assistant to the president and communications director to the vice president, noted in a social media post, “The Marine Corps said they are NOT shutting down the I-5 highway and that the event at Camp Pendleton is a training exercise. Also, President Trump IS paying the troops despite Chuck Schumer’s efforts to hold their salaries hostage.”

In a press release Sunday, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said a piece of shrapnel from an explosive ordnance fired over Interstate 5 “detonated overhead prematurely, striking and damaging a CHP patrol vehicle.”

“The incident happened in the area where CHP officers were supporting a traffic break along I-5 near Camp Pendleton during an exceptional U.S. Marine Corps live-fire training demonstration over the freeway, and where the CHP had elected to stop traffic during the live-fire exercise,” the agency explained.

There were no injures reported and an ABC 7 report said the U.S. Marine Corps was immediately notified.

In a statement, the U.S. Marine Corps said, “The demonstration went through a rigorous safety evaluation, and deliberate layers of redundancy, to ensure the safety of fellow citizens. Following established safety protocols, firing was suspended. We are committed to determining the incident’s root cause and applying findings to future missions.”

Meanwhile, the White House pointed out that the alleged small piece of shrapnel left a “tiny” dent or scratch in the vehicle: