Gavin Newsom had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad Monday. He came under constant fire for the racist remarks he made to Black voters in Georgia, where Newsom said he was just like them, with a low SAT score and difficulty reading speeches. He also tried being even more relatable by lying about his privileged upbringing. The heat got to Newsom, who responded by swearing at Fox News host Sean Hannity, calling the blowback about Newsom's racist comments "fake f***ing outrage."
You're doing great, Gavin.
We have to wonder if Gavin or his comms team will attack CNN's Dana Bash, who also asked Newsom some tough questions about his privileged childhood.
CNN’s Dana Bash continues to surprise everyone.
— Overton (@overton_news) February 23, 2026
She just forced Gavin Newsom to admit a hard truth about his privileged upbringing — something he was clearly hoping to gloss over as he tried to whitewash his past for 2028.
You can see the pain on his face the moment he realized… pic.twitter.com/5IzIKWSQN0
“We had about 1000 employees at peak. I’m not saying that to impress you, but to impress upon you how entrepreneurialism has defined my life. But it was also defined in relationship to the Getty family," Newsom said. "And with that came this notion, well, it was handed to you, it was given to you, you inherited it as opposed to the hard work and that grind that defined that lived experience."
Bash asked Newsom, "Can it be both?"
"You have the hard work and the grind, and you had doors opened," Bash continued. "It's not just the Gettys. Your grandfather and your father were both very connected in San Francisco."
"I'm here because of all of them, and their shoulders, and 100 percent," Newsom replied. "So all those doors, all the privileges of those relationships, remarkable gifts...and again with a work ethic from my mom. And so it was both/and. And so I was comfortable and uncomfortable in so many ways in both worlds."
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"I just navigated back and forth...with my father and the families, these adventures, my mom was back home," Newsom said.
"They weren't just adventures," Bash said. "You went on safaris, you took pictures from helicopters, you were partying with Jack Nicholson."
"Yeah, yeah," Newsome replied. "It was extraordinary."
You can even pinpoint the moment Newsom realized the interview was going off the rails for him.
This is the exact moment Newsom realizes that Bash was pushing back on his carefully crafted narrative about his past. pic.twitter.com/rrrGd4UXaT
— Overton (@overton_news) February 23, 2026
Bash didn't stop there, however; she also hammered Newsom on his ties to Oppenheimer and communism.
Gavin Newsom claims that he didn’t know about his family ties to Oppenheimer or communism growing up.
— Overton (@overton_news) February 23, 2026
Dana Bash called his willful ignorance “Forrest Gump-esque” right to his face.
BASH: “Your great grandfather was very good friends with Oppenheimer. And J. Edgar Hoover got a… https://t.co/jyfmvnoGD8 pic.twitter.com/4zKHskXfjR
"Your great-grandfather was very good friends with Oppenheimer, and J. Edgar Hoover got a file on them," Bash said.
"A big file on them," Newsom replied.
"But you never knew any of this?" Bash asked.
"Didn't know any of this," Newsom replied. "There were vague hints of it.
"I have to say there's kind of a Forrest Gump-esque notion to this," Bash said. "Because, whether it's Oppenheimer, you learned that your grandmother went to the Soviet Union. I mean, they were communists."
"She was Trigger Addis, an actress," Newsom said.
Now, normally, we wouldn't begrudge a guy like Gavin his upbringing, except Democrats have been very clear about their disdain for actual hardworking Americans, and the wealthy Americans like Elon Musk who innovate and create jobs.
Obama himself said those people "didn't build" their businesses or their wealth. Newsom should be held to the standard of his party.
— Hollywood Resistance (@ResistItAllTX) February 23, 2026
We're sure Newsom is sick of this pic making the rounds, but there it is.
He obviously has no idea how condescendingly sanctimonious this pet phrase of his comes across ...
— 🇺🇸🍊🧡southerngalpal 🧡🍊🇺🇸 (@belleofva) February 23, 2026
"I’m not saying that to impress you, but to impress upon you..."
He said the same line when he insulted Black voters in Georgia.
It’s weird when they do their jobs https://t.co/VoScICRfxy
— Adam Carolla (@adamcarolla) February 24, 2026
It's very weird. They must not like Gavin and must not want him to get the nomination, because they would be treating him with kid gloves, otherwise.
Once they all really see that Newsom will have the same effect on a national Dem ticket that Kamala had, they will work overtime to kneecap him because they don't want to repeat 2024.
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) February 23, 2026
We need to be prepared both to defeat Newsom and to defeat a candidate just as radical but… https://t.co/pikYhfMoP3
"We need to be prepared both to defeat Newsom and to defeat a candidate just as radical but without his weaknesses," Van Laar wrote.
This seems to be the correct assessment. Newsom is not just a blatant, brazen liar; he also has tremendous weaknesses, including his destruction and mismanagement of California as governor (and, before that, San Francisco as mayor). If the media are already asking Newsom tough questions this early on, it's clear they do not want him to be the 2028 nominee. We need to be prepared for the person they do pick instead.
Editor's Note: With President Trump back in the White House, the state of our Union is strong once again.
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