Kristi Noem Rips Gavin Newsom’s ‘Menacing’ Post About Her: ‘Panicked My Family and Friends’

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called out California Gov. Gavin Newsom for writing a “menacing” post about her on Monday, telling Fox News it sent her family and friends into a panic.

Newsom received backlash on social media after his press office wrote, “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today. You’re welcome, America,” just weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University.

Responding to the post on Fox News’ Hannity, Monday, Noem said:

It was cryptic and it was really menacing, I would say, Sean. It immediately panicked my family and friends. Within, I would say, a couple of minutes of that being posted I started to get text messages and phone calls. Family, my kids saying, “Are you okay, Mom? Are you fine?” They know the threats that I’ve had. They know the threats that they’ve had, the things that have happened to them because of politicians like this that say things and somebody grabs onto them that has an agenda. The cartels and criminals that have threatened our family already. So when you get a post like that by a governor, immediately, you know, my staff and family think, “What is going on? What does he mean?” and we’re trying to figure it out. So you know, this is a day and age where we’ve always known that words matter, but there’s been real consequences that we have realized that have happened to incredible people like Charlie [Kirk] that we’ll have to live with forever, and I hope we all learn from that. I hope we all learn that it’s time to start listening to each other, having civil discourse, and stop ridiculous, irresponsible posts like Governor Newsom put out there.

Newsom’s post was referred to the Secret Service by U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli.

“We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials,” Essayli declared. “I’ve referred this matter to @SecretService and requested a full threat assessment.”

The post was also condemned by the White House, who described the “threat” as “beyond the pale.”

“To make a threat like this, especially on the memorial weekend for Charlie [Kirk], is beyond the pale and totally disgusting,” wrote White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. “This is what happens when Gavin Newsom lets deranged Leftist lunatics post messages on his behalf.”