San Francisco has cleaned up its homelessness in preparation for a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for this week.
The cleanup of the city comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) visited China last month. The cleanup included a power-washing and scrubbing of the city’s streets and the removal of most of the city’s homeless camps, according to KTVU.
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“I know folks are saying, ‘Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town,'” Newsom said on Friday. “That’s true, because it’s true — but it’s also true for months and months and months before APEC, we’ve been having conversations.”
“APEC” refers to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will host an expected 20,000 CEOs and heads of state in the city this week. San Francisco Mayor London Breed has argued that the conference will bring in almost $53 million, which could revitalize the city’s economy.
“Tourism is our business here in San Francisco, and we need to focus on making sure that the tourist dollars still come back,” city resident Patrick Rylee said.
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Xi’s visit to California comes amid rumblings that Newsom could launch a last-minute entry into the 2024 presidential race, as some Democrats have expressed concern that President Joe Biden could not win reelection. Recent polls have shown former President Donald Trump beating Biden in a hypothetical rematch.
Though some have speculated that Newsom is running a shadow campaign for 2024, the California governor has denied that his eyes are on the White House next year, stating it is “time to move on” from the speculation of someone besides Biden being the Democratic nominee.
