On the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump being sworn into office for the second time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the fiercest and most public critics, escalated rhetoric Tuesday against the president while admonishing European leaders.
Newsom, a Democratic presidential contender, urged the leaders of European nations to “wake up” while slamming them for “rolling over” to Trump while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“This b——- diplomacy of sort of niceties, somehow we’re all going to figure it out, saying one thing privately and saying another publicly. Have some spine,” Newsom fired off.
The ferocious comment came hours after President Trump took to social media to share a screenshot of text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron, who called Trump his “friend” in an appeasing tone.
The California governor has been intensifying his criticism against the president on a wide range of issues, including foreign policy and immigration. Earlier this month, Newsom released a statement, calling Trump “brainless” for withdrawing from the United Nations climate framework and surrendering global leadership.
As Newsom likened the president to an apex predator, the governor also had a warning message for Europe: traditional diplomacy won’t work with Trump.
“(Trump) is T. rex: You mate with him or he devours you. One or the other, and you need to stand up to it,” he said. “Europeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they have been doing. And they have been played. This guy has been playing folks for fools.”
The California governor, who has been selling red knee pads for “all your groveling to Trump needs” on the website of his political action committee Campaign for Democracy, upped the ante by saying he should have brought the knee pads to Davos and hand them out to the European leaders.
“I can’t take this complicity – people rolling over,” he said.
The California governor also took a jab at the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Machado, who handed her award to Trump following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic,” he said. “And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.”
Newsom was in Davos to pitch California as a stable zero-emission vehicle market, touting 2.5 million EV sales, according to the governor’s office.
During Trump’s news conference to mark his one-year anniversary since inauguration, the president mentioned the California governor twice, calling him “awful.
“California is a failed state,” Trump said. “If Newsom was president, this country would be like Venezuela.”
Pres. Trump was scheduled to travel to Davos later on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum where he will meet with other NATO leaders.
