Editorial illustration
Gavin Newsom took the stage at the Center for American Progress Ideas Conference this week and delivered what can only be described as an embarrassing masterclass in political delusion. The California governor, widely expected to mount a presidential campaign in 2028, decided the best use of his platform was to attack Vice President J.D. Vance while delivering a bizarre word salad that left observers wondering if he had wandered off his prepared remarks entirely. “Trump is an invasive species,” Newsom declared, adding that Trumpism “can’t survive without” the former president. Then came the kicker: “With all due respect, JD, you don’t have it.”
The arrogance is staggering. Here is a man presiding over a state hemorrhaging residents, where homelessness has become a permanent feature of urban landscapes, where crime spirals while prosecutors play catch-and-release with violent offenders—and he thinks he’s qualified to lecture the Vice President of the United States about political viability? Newsom’s California is the cautionary tale that red-state governors use to scare their legislatures into fiscal responsibility, yet he stands before the cameras with the confidence of someone who believes his own press releases.
But the real comedy came when Newsom attempted to defend the Biden administration’s economic record. He actually claimed the economy was “booming” with low inflation and that job creation and unemployment were the best since the 1960s. Does he think Americans have amnesia? Does he not remember the grocery bills that doubled, the gas prices that forced working families to choose between filling their tanks and feeding their children, the inflation that ate away at savings accounts like a cancer? The 2024 election autopsy released by his own party specifically credits the focus on identity politics for Kamala Harris’s loss, yet Newsom stood there defending the very policies that voters rejected in overwhelming numbers.
His word salad only got worse from there. “It’s not about tinkering anymore. It’s not about I doubled the earned income tax credit. If I’m giving that speech, you’re in trouble. It’s not about retraining, and that’s, this is something different. I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’m not going all Elizabeth or Bernie on you, or AOC. Maybe I am a little bit.” Reading that transcript is like watching someone try to assemble a puzzle with pieces from three different boxes. There is no coherent philosophy here, no governing vision—just a desperate attempt to thread a needle between the radical base that controls Democratic primaries and the moderate voters who have fled the party in droves.
President Trump, when asked about Newsom’s comments, responded with the kind of measured confidence that has defined his political career. “JD is very talented. He’s a smart guy. He’ll do very well if it’s JD. We have a lot of very talented people.” No insults, no petty jabs—just an acknowledgment that the Republican bench runs deep while Democrats pin their hopes on a man whose greatest achievement is turning the Golden State into a warning label. The contrast speaks volumes about which party is serious about governing and which is still chasing the ghosts of 2020.
Source: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/05/video-newsom-attacks-jd-vance-trump-embarrassing-word/
About The Author
