‘Hey! Sean Hannity!’ Newsom Calls Out Fox News Hosts Over Trump Support

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) called out Sean Hannity and other Fox News hosts for what he sees as hypocritical support for President Donald Trump’s actions.

Newsom has made a second career of attacking Trump and his administration, especially through the use of social media to parody Trump’s personality and communication style.

That assault continued when Newsom appeared on Thursday’s episode of Politico Live with Chris Cadelago for an hour-long Q&A, during which Trump was a frequent topic.

In one exchange, Newsom name-checked Hannity and Laura Ingraham for not having the same energy for Trump’s nationalizing of Intel as they do for a city-run grocery store:

CHRIS CADELAGO: You’ve been pretty vocal about this billion-dollar settlement offer that Trump has made to UCLA.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The extortion.

CHRIS CADELAGO: And yeah, called it a shakedown. You referred to him as the Don, mobster-like figure.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I didn’t, did we? Good.

(LAUGHTER).

CHRIS CADELAGO: So, how do you, how are you going to stop that? When we see folks entertaining a settlement.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It sickens me to the core. You know, all for one, all one for all, or whatever, I mean. Intel. I mean, this is a guy–.

I love these guys. Hey, Sean Hannity! You watching? You’re so disgusted at– Laura? So sickened by Mamdani talking about socializing a bodega or something, or a grocery store.

Here you hire a Intel, you just socialize and nationalized Intel. You got your guy Howard Lutnick, the great Lutnick, who’s out there talking about nationalizing. People that do business in this country, the Pentagon. Lockheed.

CHRIS CADELAGO: But this is a decision of the regents. I mean in the in the UC. This is not.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Well I’m not.

CHRIS CADELAGO: This is not Hannity or Lutnick.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): No, it’s about this moment. It’s about people standing tall. It’s making the case to those members.

CHRIS CADELAGO: How do you exert your influence?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): A moral authority, not just formal authority. I have a little formal authority too. I’m a member of that body. (Yeah.) I also help fund it. (Yeah.).

And I also believe, public institutions, I believe, this UC system, which has over 13,800 active patents more than any other system in the world. It’s the reason we have more scientists, engineers, more researchers, more Nobel laureates coming out of this.

It’s the reason we’re the tent pole of the U.S. Economy. It’s the reason America’s the tentpole of the world economy. It’s because of our research institutions.

This guy will take anything down. And he’s trying to shut them down. I mean, a billion dollar fine to UCLA shuts them down, shuts down one of the finest research institutions in the world.

But it’s consistent pattern. Any institution that cultivates individual or independent thinking is under assault.

Watch above via Politico Live.