The Patriot Post® · Newsom vs. Tapper: Another Leftmedia Setup and Takedown

Three weeks ago in Mark Alexander’s column “The Demos’ 2020 Economic Doom Platform,” he noted that, contrary to the abysmal assessment being shoveled out by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in their efforts to politicize the pandemic, Gavin Newsom, governor of the most leftist state in the union, California, offered an entirely different assessment of the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Asked about the repatriation of cruise-ship refugees afloat off the coast of California, Newsom said: “President [Donald] Trump said everything that I could have hoped for, and we had a very long conversation and every single thing that he said, they followed through on. Every single thing his administration said — and it starts at the top, including the vice president — has been consistent with the expectation that we’d repatriate these passengers and we’d do it in a way that does justice to the spirit that defines the best of our country and the state of California.”

Again this week, Newsom refused to take the bait from one Leftmedia talkinghead that now typifies the nonstop negativity being directed at President Trump and his team.

CNN agitator Jake Tapper claimed he had spoken with “officials throughout the country … who temper their remarks and what they say about the federal government response for fear that President Trump will punish the citizens of their state if he considers them to be a complainer.” He then asked Newsom if he was, “by necessity, tempering any issues” with Trump.

To his credit, Newsom replied: “I’ve been consistent — and Jake, you know this. We’ve been dealing with historic wildfires and droughts … here in California, and I’ve always said this. I said it a year ago. This is not a time to bicker. … When it comes to times of crisis, we need to rise above the partisanship. And I’ve extended always an open hand, not a closed fist, in these circumstances, and this is no different.”

Newsom continued: “Let me just be candid with you. I’d be lying to you to say that [Trump] hasn’t been responsive to our needs. He has. So as sort of an offer of objectivity, I have to acknowledge that publicly. And the fact is, every time I called the president he’s quickly gotten on the line. When we asked to get support for that mercy ship in Southern California, he was able to direct that in real time. We got 2,000 of these field medical sites that are up, almost all operational now, in the state because of his support.”

Newsom then shut Tapper down by concluding: “Those are the facts. We always want more. I could criticize this or that. At the end of the day we’re just trying to focus on developing a relationship of trust as a matter of course, because there’s just too many Americans, 40 million that live in this state, that deserve us to get together and get along.”

Tapper looked like he was battling a bad case of indigestion. After all, nothing could be worse for the Left’s narrative than the notion of President Trump getting together and getting along with Democrats in a time of need.