Gavin Newsom Bashes Media ‘Sycophants’ at Trump’s Oval Office Press Conferences

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) believes President Donald Trump is getting softball treatment from the press — at least when it comes to his interviews at the White House.

Newsom made the claim during an appearance on progressive YouTuber Jack Cocchiarella’s show on Sunday. The governor suggested the Trump Administration is blocking out mainstream reporters in favor of Republican-friendly outlets that suck-up to the president.

“These press conferences in the Oval Office — you maybe have one or two reasonable reporters, they ask a question, there’s no chance for a follow-up, and then it’s 7 sycophants,” Newsom fumed.

Newsom then did his best impression of a pro-MAGA reporter asking bozo questions.

“Mr. Trump, you’re such a extraordinary man. You look quite handsome, you look like you’ve lost weight,” Newsom said. “Is that because you are negotiating Medicaid Part D with GLP-1s because of your extraordinary work to get pharmaceutical prices down?”

He then got serious again.

“It’s just embarrassing,” Newsom said. “It’s an embarrassment.”

Newsom did not call out any outlets or reporters in particular. But his gripe comes after the Trump Administration introduced the “new media seat” at White House press briefings at the start of the president’s second term.

The rotating seat has been occupied by reporters from several right-leaning outlets like The Daily Wire and The Gateway Pundit since then, as well as Steve Bannon’s podcast co-host Natalie Winters.

As for the Oval Office press conferences, Trump has still had plenty of dust-ups with prominent mainstream reporters recently. He went off on CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins last month during one of them, accusing her of being “crooked as hell” and working for a “corrupt” outlet.

“She’s a young, beautiful woman. Never smiles, I never see a smile off her face, I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes,” Trump said. “She has hatred because we have borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes, because we do things that everybody wanted. And then we win our election in a massive landslide.”

One funny aspect about Newsom’s rant over friendly coverage: Cocchiarella has a picture of him and Newsom shaking hands as his banner image on X.

Watch above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!