Rather than play statesman on the world stage, Gavin Newsom brought his troll act to Davos — and it bombed.
Trump is alienating our allies through his boorish rhetoric, Democrats routinely scream.
Yet Newsom opted to be at least as boorish, slamming foreign leaders for being too polite to Trump — in the crudest language possible: “I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders.”
Newsom has used the sexually-suggestive and degrading “kneepads” line before, bashing Republicans who defer to the prez.
Used it because it works . . . among partisan Democrats.
(The gov’s even boasted of raising a fortune by selling kneepads on his campaign website.)
But it’s no kind of diplomacy; not even Trump, who once made fun of Kim Jong Un’s “button,” would go there — at least not when it comes to US allies.
As the saying goes, “Act like you’ve been there before”; the gov instead looked like he had no clue.
Indeed, Newsom seemed disappointed his shtick didn’t make him the doyenne of Davos — yes, he’s that parochial.
Attacking our nation’s president on foreign soil utterly trashes the traditional rule that politics ends at the water’s edge, but Gavin’s gaffes went well beyond that.
He went to Davos determined to use that elitist venue to undermine Trump; instead he made himself a fool (or clown) in world leaders’ eyes.
Sure, plenty of presidents and prime ministers dislike or even detest Trump, but others admire him — and they all have to deal with him, and with the American people who elected him: They can’t afford the kind of cheap posturing that scores big in deep-blue states like California.
The Dems who insist Trump is an overseas disaster ought to be easily able to outdo him when it comes to diplomacy, yet Newsom just failed his first test — and that pathetic first impression won’t be forgotten.
The gov did California no favors, either.
He likes to boast that his state has the world’s fourth-largest economy, which should imply a degree of gravitas in its governor.
Instead, Newsom played troll, as if his press office’s social-media strategy is the way to win overseas accolades.
He missed an opportunity to represent his state — but Gavin Newsom’s only care is to be the most anti-Trump Democrat in the 2028 presidential field.
Get used to it, California: You’re now an afterthought in your governor’s mind.
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