Banned from speaking, lauded for his condemnation of Trump and compared to a 1990s Ken doll. Newsom is killing it at Davos.<\/b>
\nWhat\u2019s the absolute best way to give Gov. Gavin Newsom free publicity and a worldwide audience?
Freeze him out at Davos, where the rich and powerful are meeting in the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland. The Trump administration is learning the hard way, in real time, that petty comes with a price \u2014 in this case, being laughed at by, well, the world.
And while Congress, Europe and law may hold no terrors for our president, we all know ridicule hits him in his soft, white underbelly.
In case you missed it, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the California governor has been banned from a scheduled media talk (allegedly under pressure from the White House) that was going to be a rebuttal to Trump\u2019s ramble at the event, according to Newsom\u2019s office.
On Wednesday, Newsom\u2019s team announced that he had been turned away from USA House, the privately run but official gathering spot of the United States. Newsom was scheduled to do a fireside chat with Forbes magazine, but apparently when he arrived at the church-turned-conference hall, he was politely told to beat it.
\u201cHow weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?\u201d Newsom posted on X.
Cue the outrage. Cue the coverage.
Forbes didn\u2019t know the snub was coming, according to screen shots of private text messages reviewed by The Times, but within minutes it was world news. Except maybe on CBS.
That\u2019s a lot of focus on a guy who isn\u2019t even a billionaire and doesn\u2019t run a country, and supposedly isn\u2019t even in the presidential race yet. In case you\u2019re not personally familiar with the gathering at Davos, it\u2019s pretty much the kings (and occasional queen) of the world coming together to think big thoughts. Getting cold-shouldered in that crowd is a big deal.
But it\u2019s the kind of big deal that makes Newsom look good. Blackballing him from USA House was akin to screaming in his face that he\u2019s a big meanie and the president wasn\u2019t going to take it any more. So there!
It\u2019s funny. It\u2019s powerful. It gets him the kind of news coverage that other not-yet-candidates dream about.
It makes it clear that far from the useful foil that the Newsom-Trump rivalry is often explained as, Newsom is hitting on points that are hitting home. With Trump, and with voters. And now, maybe with world leaders \u2014 which just makes him that much more viable as a candidate. Without a doubt, this is Trump quashing dissent.
Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went after Newsom, calling Newsom \u201cPatrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken.\u201d
That\u2019s a reference to the overly suave serial killer in the film \u201cAmerican Psycho\u201d crossed with a popular 1990s version of a male Barbie known for its pretty eyes and good hair. To be fair, Newsom does resemble both of them.
That remark came in response to Newsom calling Bessent\u2019s speech \u201csmug\u201d for suggesting that the average American couple was buying up homes as rentals for their retirements. Personally, like most of us, I can\u2019t even afford an extra Barbie doll house, so to be fair, Newsom is right on that one.
Newsom also scored points off Trump\u2019s speech. He called it \u201cboring,\u201d the most vicious insult you can hurl at Trump. But it was.
For more than an hour, Trump repeatedly called Greenland Iceland by mistake, while demanding it be turned over to him.
Yawn.
He went after windmills because \u201cthey kill the birds, they ruin your landscapes.\u201d
Wut?
He went after Minnesota with a particularly rabid if overused bit of racism, because it \u201creminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures, which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own.\u201d
Yuck.
As Newsom pointed out in a press gaggle not too long afterward \u2014 right before being banned from his formal talk \u2014 for an American audience, it\u2019s the same ugly drivel we\u2019ve been subjected to for nearly a year. Absolutely none of it is fresh, though it remains awful and dangerous.
\u201cMy God, there wasn\u2019t anything new about that speech,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cIt was remarkably insignificant.\u201d
It was certainly not a speech that won Trump credibility or support from those kings and queens. It certainly did not contain diplomacy or leadership, or frankly, even sense. Despite the laughter and applause from the audience, I doubt there are few if any outside of Trump\u2019s team who would call it a success.
But for Newsom, Davos is a win.<\/p>\n