Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wasn’t finished blasting California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. In a Friday interview, he mocked Newsom’s comparison of President Trump to a T-Rex and then asked whether the governor had brought the knee pads he previously suggested European leaders would need when dealing with Trump, this time for his meeting with Alex Soros.
"I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking with some of these things he's saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo. And being on the national stage is very different than being Governor of California with no signature achievements, but to say strange things like President Trump is the Tyrannosaurus Rex? What the hell does that mean? You know, I could say Gavin Newsom is a Brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut. And if you brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros. I don't know!"
.@SecScottBessent: "I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking up with some of these things he's saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo ... if he brought the kneepads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros, I don't know." 🤣 pic.twitter.com/i25NubkSHL
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 23, 2026
This comes just days after Bessent previously blasted Newsom as a fusion of Patrick Bateman and Sparkle Beach Ken after the California Governor described the Treasury Secretary as "smug."
"Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris," Bessent said on Wednesday in Davos. "He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is a perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church. Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything."
Recommended
Gavin Newsom continues to position himself for a 2028 presidential run, and his performance in Davos suggests the effort isn’t going well. While he has attempted to cast himself as the antithesis to President Trump on the world stage, he has instead failed spectacularly.
At one point, a European reporter asked Newsom whether he had a message for Europeans concerned about President Trump’s rhetoric regarding Greenland. What followed was a Kamala Harris–style word salad, with Newsom telling Europeans they needed to have a backbone and “stand tall.” When reporters pressed him on what, specifically, Europeans should do, Newsom sidestepped the question, deferring instead to the preference of European leaders.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
Help us continue to report on President Trump's successes. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member