Gavin Newsom goes NUCLEAR on Trump cognitive decline
California Governor Gavin Newsom returns to the show
In this wide-ranging interview, California Governor Gavin Newsom discusses the aftermath of the No Kings Day protests in Los Angeles, which saw an unprecedented deployment of federal troops by the Trump administration. Newsom expresses alarm at what he sees as authoritarian overreach: federal forces sent into cities without local consent, immigration raids targeting blue states, and a chilling effect on immigrant communities.
Newsom goes on to question Donald Trump’s fitness for office, citing troubling signs in both public and private interactions. He highlights false claims Trump made about speaking with him, bizarre late-night social media behavior, and consistent verbal gaffes. He argues that corporate media has largely failed to confront Trump’s cognitive decline, despite clear patterns that would spark national concern under any other president. Newsom also condemns Fox News for knowingly backing Trump’s falsehoods, likening their role to propaganda arms of authoritarian regimes.
Finally, the conversation turns to the broader hollowness of Trump’s political brand. Newsom describes Trump’s policies as performative and ever-changing, dictated by focus groups and right-wing media feedback loops rather than any guiding principles. From abortion to Medicaid to fiscal responsibility, Trump’s positions are framed as branding exercises rather than coherent governance. Newsom warns that this style of leadership leaves state governments like his scrambling to adapt to an unstable federal agenda—and hints that growing dissent within MAGA circles may signal further fracturing of Trump’s support.
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