Mark Ruffalo accuses Newsom of siding with billionaires
by The Washington Times AI News Desk · The Washington TimesMarvel star Mark Ruffalo on Wednesday accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of siding with billionaires, criticizing the Democratic governor’s endorsement of a ballot measure that would block a proposed tax on the state’s wealthiest residents.
Mr. Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the Avengers films, wrote on X that Mr. Newsom keeps selling out “the working class people for the billionaires,” Breitbart News reported. He also said the measure the governor endorsed would make it impossible to tax the wealthy.
Mr. Newsom announced his support for Proposition 42 on Friday. The measure, funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, would cancel out Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026, CalMatters reported. Prop. 42 also would ban any new taxes on personal property. Voters will decide both measures in November.
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Prop. 42 would bar new state taxes on the ownership of personal property, defined as everything other than real estate, and would limit retroactive taxes. The state currently taxes income people make from their financial assets, an analysis by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office noted, while the measure targets taxes on ownership.
In a statement released by the Prop. 42 campaign, Mr. Newsom said Californians “deserve to have their retirement and life savings protected from new state taxes.” CalMatters noted that Prop. 40 exempts many kinds of retirement accounts.
Mr. Newsom has long opposed state-level asset taxes over concerns that wealthy residents will leave California. He has proposed a national tax on the wealthy instead, including a minimum tax rate for anyone with a net worth above $100 million.
Prop. 40 is backed by the California Democratic Party and by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which is leading the campaign. Debru Carthan, a vice president of the union, said the governor’s Prop. 42 endorsement was “showing California his true colors.”
Mr. Ruffalo’s criticism of the governor is not new. On Sept. 21, after Paramount reached a settlement with a coalition of 12 state attorneys general led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the actor wrote that Mr. Newsom “hands huge win to Trump and his billionaire cronies,” Puck reported. Puck’s Peter Hamby wrote that he was told Mr. Newsom had a hands-on role in the settlement.
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After a federal judge approved the settlement on Sept. 30, Mr. Ruffalo called the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger a “bad deal for this country,” Fox Business reported.
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