Former President Donald Trump has come under fire from some on the right following his comments, asserting he wouldn’t “hit” California Governor Gavin Newsom because the liberal Democrat had been “nice” to him.
Trump described Newsom as “a very ambitious guy” who did “a terrible job with the state” during an interview on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that aired on Tuesday (April 11).
Trump noted that when he was President, he “would get along great” with Newsom.
Trump’s comments prompted Carlson to ask, “You got along with Gavin Newsom?”
The former President, who is pursuing a 2024 White House bid, explained that he “really did,” adding Newsom was “always very nice to [him],” noting that the California Governor said “the greatest things, noting Newsom would “say things like, ‘[Trump’s] doing a great job.'”
Carlson queried if Newsom was saying those things about Trump.
To which Trump replied that Newsom was saying those things about him, noting, “That’s why I could never hit him because he was so nice to me,” adding, “just laying in wait, right?”
Trump’s words sparked a backlash from some on the right, who were outraged at the suggestion that the former President was holding back on criticism of one of the country’s most prominent left-wing politicians.
Taking to social media, commentator Kurt Schlichter tweeted about being “really disappointed in Trump” for “kissing up to Gavin Newsom,” noting that Newsom, who he described as a “leftist monster,” is “A-OK because he’s been nice to Trump?” but Trump considered “Conservative [Florida Governor Ron DeSantis] is awful because he has not been nice lately?”
Pedro Gonzalez, an editor for Chronicles, added to the furor, noting that the California Governor “has pushed some of the most radical policies” in the U.S.,” and despite that, the former President “said he could never ‘hit him’ because [he] was ‘so nice’ to [Trump].”
Gonzalez continued that Trump couldn’t “fight the left because he identifies more with the left.”
