Gavin Newsom says he’s ‘disappointed’ in Joe Biden after the president announced a shock lame duck pardon for his son Hunter.
The announcement has drawn derision from all sides of the aisle, either critical of the president’s decision or that he openly lied about it to the press in the months leading up to it.
Newsom, who spent much of the year in a foxhole defending and acting as a surrogate for the ailing, 82-year-old president – even after his debate disaster in Atlanta in June – seems to have finally had enough.
He opened with empathy for what the president had chosen to do, protecting his son from likely prison time.
‘With everything the president and his family have been through, I completely understand the instinct to protect Hunter,’ Newsom told Politico Tuesday.
However, he refused to accept that Biden had lied about it as recently as June, while White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lied about it as recently as November.
‘But I took the president at his word. So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.’
It’s a sharp turn from the California liberal, who has remained in Biden’s corner to the bitter end this year.
Gavin Newsom says he’s ‘disappointed’ in Joe Biden after the president announced a shock lame duck pardon for his son Hunter
The announcement has drawn derision from all sides of the aisle, either critical of the president’s decision or that he openly lied about it to the press in the months leading up to it
Newsom set his sights on nationwide recognition this year by appearing on TV clashing over social issues with Republicans like Ron DeSantis – and front and center at the presidential debate in June, where he adamantly defended Biden’s catastrophic performance.
While Newsom said that claims that he could replace Biden were ‘farcical,’ his appearance sparked claims that the governor was placed in front of cameras at the debate as part of a plan to take over as the candidate for the Democrats.
The governor also dismissed the notion that Biden could be replaced and urged in a fundraising email for the Democrats today: ‘Don’t look at 30 minutes… look at 3 and a half years of Joe Biden as president.’
His role as one of the Biden campaign’s top surrogates made him a target of Republicans who have repeatedly held up California as an example of Democrats’ mismanagement.
Newsom’s term as California’s governor is up in January 2027, and he is a favorite to be one of the top contenders in the 2028 presidential race.
However, Newsom appears set to spend the rest of his term doing battle with Biden’s replacement.
The governor announced Monday he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal fights with Donald Trump, despite the state’s massive budget shortfall.
The announcement came on the first day of a special session of the California legislature dedicated to preparing the liberal state for the second term of conservative Trump.
Newsom opened with empathy for what the president had chosen to do, protecting Hunter from likely prison time
It’s a sharp turn from the California liberal, who has remained in Biden’s corner to the bitter end this year
Trump’s return to the White House will likely resurrect the hostile relationship between the pair.
The president-elect has repeatedly called the Democrat ‘Newscum’, railed against crime in California, and ridiculed his electric car mandate.
If approved by the legislature, the California Department of Justice and state agencies would get the extra funding for court battles in areas such as reproductive rights, environmental protection and immigration.
‘The new litigation fund will help safeguard critical funding for disaster relief, health care, and other vital services that millions of Californians depend on daily’, the governor wrote in the proposal.
He added the state plans to ‘defend against unlawful federal actions that could jeopardize not only tangible resources and the state´s economy’ as well as protection of reproductive health care and civil rights.
The fights could also force the federal government to pay needed funding, Newsom said in a statement, citing successful legal skirmishes with the federal government during the first Trump administration.
