California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said everyone, whether Democrat or Republican, should be “disgusted by the behavior of the President of the United States.”
The Democratic leader made the statement when discussing the “racist trope” that President Donald Trump featured on his Truth Social account last week. The post, which has since been deleted, consisted of what appeared to be an AI-generated video and depicted former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. It was part of a screen recording of a conspiracy theory over voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
“It’s disgraceful. It’s racist. It’s abhorrent,” said Newsom during a press conference late Tuesday. “The President of the United States sending out a racist trope should disgust every human being in this room. Everyone. I don’t care if you watched Kid Rock this [Super Bowl] weekend or Bad Bunny.”
Newsom went on to criticize how the White House and Trump handled the situation, after both blamed the posting of the video on an unnamed staffer. The President said he had instructed a staffer to share the video, but claimed to have not seen the offending content. He also refused to apologize, claiming he “didn’t make a mistake.”
“In any other circumstance that person would be fired, the board of directors would ask him to be fired. Be ashamed and humiliated and would have apologized. He did none of the above,” Newsom said, arguing that the public discourse moved on too quickly from the uproar.
“I can’t believe that was washed away just with another news cycle. How the hell is he allowed to get away with that?”
Newsom also accused those closest to Trump of excusing his behaviour, specifically claiming that House Speaker Mike Johnson had “countenanced that racial video.” When asked whether Trump owed the Obamas an apology last week, Johnson told a reporter that the President had not known about the offending content before it was posted.
TIME has reached out to the White House for comment.
Hours before Newsom’s remarks on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked if the White House had a “social media problem.”
The question was posed in relation to the video containing the racist trope and also a recent post published on Vice President J.D. Vance’s account which referenced the “Armenian genocide.” The message, which has since been removed, sparked questions as the U.S. government does not use that term for what happened in the early 20th century.
Leavitt said the White House doesn’t have a social media issue, but failed to offer further comment on the video featuring a depiction of the Obamas.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only African-American Republican Senator, previously described the video as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
Newsom has long criticized Trump’s social media rhetoric, and has even taken to adopting the President’s vernacular in his own online posts.
Ahead of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance on Sunday, Newsom declared Super Bowl Sunday “Bad Bunny Day” in California. He made the announcement in a post that appeared to mock Trump’s social media style and mimicked how the President has previously pronounced “Puerto Rico.” Trump, meanwhile, was among a group of conservatives who instead championed Turning Point USA’s alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show, which featured Kid Rock as a headliner.
When asked about his renewed approach to social media last year, and his decision to mirror the MAGA playbook in some of his content, Newsom told reporters: “I hope it’s a wake-up call to the President of the United States following his example. If you’ve got issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he’s putting out as President. To the extent it’s gotten attention, I’m pleased.”
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