Gavin Newsom Ridiculed For Disastrous, Word-Salad-Filled 'Meet the Press' Interview | JP
Gavin Newsom was interviewed on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday — and it was a complete dumpster fire of an interview.
During the entire thing, Newsom took a page out of the Kamala Harris playbook, dishing out plenty of word salads.
He had a defensive air about him, using dramatic mannerisms and wild gestures when trying to deflect attention away from his poor leadership as Governor of California, which now burning to the ground due to his terrible decisions.
Newsom even attempted to shove the blame off to President Trump, whom he accused of “threatening” first responders and spreading so-called “disinformation” about the wildfires.
You just have to watch some of these clips:
GAVIN NEWSOM: All of our reservoirs here in southern California are full.
REPORTER: One of them was actually not full – the one that serves the Palisdes [which is on fire].
NEWSOM: That’s why I asked for an investigation.pic.twitter.com/R8pZ2ruARX
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 12, 2025
This morning on Meet the Press, @GavinNewsom is asked if the buck stops with him over these fires, and instead of saying yes, as governor, he offers up this word salad instead. He is very defensive about how badly he has handled these fires.
He then goes on to trash Trump,… pic.twitter.com/DwUq5T6XrT
— Thomas Hawk (@thomashawk) January 12, 2025
🚨NEW: Nero Newsom again says he wants answers.
He’s then asked if the buck stops with him as the Governor of California.
He responds with word salad. pic.twitter.com/qTkBmaWRRk
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 12, 2025
For those who prefer to read, RealClearPolitics has a partial transcript of the full interview:
JACOB SOBOROFF, NBC NEWS: You’ve also called for an independent investigation into the issues around water supply that we’ve seen. What are the questions that you’re hoping to answer?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: The same ones you’re asking. Same ones that people out on the streets are asking, yelling about, “What the hell happened? What happened to the water system?” Was it – and, by the way, was it just overwhelm? That you had so much that was used? We drew it down. Was it pipes? Was it electricity? Was it a combination of pipes, electricities, and pumps? Was that drawdown impossible because you lost seven-plus thousand structures right here anyway and every single structure we lost had a pipe that was leaking, and we would’ve lost that water pressure anyway? Did it contribute in any way to our inability to fight the fire? Or were 99 mile-an-hour winds determinative and there was really no firefight that could’ve been more meaningful? So I want – all of us want to know those answers, and I just don’t want to wait because people are asking me. I want to know those facts. I want them objectively determined, and let the chips fall where they may. This is not about finger pointing.
JACOB SOBOROFF: You say what to people who insist that these independent investigations or calls for them, are you passing the blame onto other people?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: I’m not – how could it be when we’re doing an independent investigation and we just want the adjudication of the facts? As I say, it’s not about finger pointing. It’s about answering the questions you and everybody wants answered. And I think there’s a propensity to wait to answer those questions, and people want immediacy. They want response and responsiveness. And so that’s the idea.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Ultimately here, does the buck stop with you?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: Well, I mean, you’re governor of California. You might as well be the mayor of California. We’re all in this together. We’re all better off when we’re all better off, and we’re all better off when we’re working together to take care of people and to make sure people are supported. We’re empathetic. And we’re here not just in the immediacy of the crisis, but we’re here after the crisis, as opposed to creating a crisis in the middle of this by trying to divide people and play political, take cheap political shots.
JACOB SOBOROFF: Do you have faith in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: I have absolute faith in our community. I have faith in our leaders. I have the faith of our capacity to work together.
JACOB SOBOROFF: President-elect Trump has blamed you for this crisis. He’s called you incompetent. What’s your response?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM: Well, I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect. I respect the office. We have a president of the United States that within 36 hours provided a major disaster declaration over a text. We had support from the President of the United States, Joe Biden, with 100% reimbursement, all the resources you could hope for, imagine, constant communication. I’d like to extend that to the president-elect. I don’t know what he’s referring to when he talks about the Delta smelt in reservoirs. The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here in Southern California. That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us. Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month. I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.
Oof.
There goes Newsom’s 2028 presidential bid…
He’s being mocked hard on X for this.
Take a look at these brutal responses:
Gavin Newsom is on meet the press right now. Is he on speed or what? Come on, dude, calm down with the hand gestures.
— Kned61 (@kned61) January 12, 2025
Watching Gavin Newsome his body language and speech suggests he is overwhelmed. The most telling statement is California Leads The Nation in Environmental Laws (sic). Californians love this PR but are living the results. Newsome is a failed leader. Time for change.
— Middle Ground US Citizen (@GregDellinger6) January 12, 2025
Only Gavin Newsom can simultaneously both indignantly demand people stop pointing fingers while at the same time calling for an investigation aka finding out who to blame.
— The Hegemony™ (@OneHegemony) January 12, 2025
@GavinNewsom Keep talking, you’re digging you grave deeper. Quit making excuses, own up to your failures. Trump is still a private citizen and is in no way obligated to come to LA. There would be nothing he could do for you at this point!
— Susan Donoghue # MAGA 2024 (@SueJDono) January 12, 2025
“They WERE full. We filled them with INCLUSION… the most important resource of all!” #ResignGavinNewsom
— Aaron Sparrow™ is a JERK! (@Aaron_Sparrow) January 13, 2025
It amazes me how @GavinNewsom lies so easily with utter impunity and gets caught real time.
— LindaRN (@LindaG_RN) January 12, 2025
If you’re interested, you can watch the full interview disaster right here: