Newsom didn't do anyone any favors by blowing up at the European leaders

[bigtree]

...and like all macho displays in response to political challenges, the governor's ranting contained more heat than light.

Newsom torches ‘pathetic’ European leaders for bowing to Trump: ‘I should’ve brought kneepads’

California Governor Gavin Newsom tore into “pathetic” and “embarrassing” European allies for how they are responding to U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing them of “rolling over” as the White House upends NATO in its pursuit of control of Greenland from Denmark.

“I can’t take this complicity. People rolling over. I should have bought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders,” Newsom, a Democrat and potential candidate for the presidency in 2028, told reporters at the World Economic Forum‘s annual gathering in Davos.

He added: “I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage, at least from an American perspective. It’s embarrassing.”

“I’ve seen this in the United States, the supine Congress. It’s time to stand tall and strong, stand united”.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/gavin-newsom-european-leaders-pathetic-171337182.html


“This guy is a wrecking ball. I hope people are waking up to what we are dealing with. This is code red,” Newsom continued.

“You guys are still playing by an old set of rules, everybody in the globe is, with this guy. He’s unmoored. It’s the law of the jungle. It’s the rule of Don, and I hope it’s dawning on the world what we’re up against. This is serious. This guy is—he’s not mad, he’s very intentional. But he’s unmoored and he’s unhinged.”

The Democrat also accused leaders of saying different things in public and in private about Trump. “Everybody’s talking behind his back. They’re laughing at him. Meanwhile, they’re sucking up to him. It’s embarrassing…This is not diplomacy, it’s stupidity,” Newsom said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gavin-newsom-slams-pathetic-us-allies-over-donald-trump/ar-AA1UA51y

...while it's nice to see someone standing up to Trump, it has to be bemusing for the European leaders to see the governor bashing them for something that is rapidly spinning out of control in his own country, ignoring their own individual interests are just as rapidly turning away from America because of our voters' insistence in again elevating Trump back onto the world stage.

It's not the Europeans' responsibility to bring Trump to heel; not as much as they are charged with looking after their own interests; and now they're turning away from decades of cooperation on concerns which the U.S. is rapidly abandoning support for, both materially and rhetorically under Trump.

They can reasonably ask where they can rely on America right now for anything other than the inevitability of some arbitrary punitive action directed at them at the point of Trump's latest pique.

They don't need to growl at Trump or beat their chests like teenagers in a school fight. They have democracies which will determine whether negotiation or fighting makes sense to their interests.

And certainly on this world stage, at this world economic summit, cooperation between nations is meant to take precedent over the internecine squabbling that Trump would like everyone else to descend into while picking over the rubble he's caused.

Gov. Newsom should be careful imagining the Europeans don't know how to take care of themselves in the face of autocratic figureheads pushing their weight around. Their people know how to take to the streets to demand the changes they want; less so here in the States, albeit learning.

But more than that obviation, Europeans must have had their fill of Americans talking down to them right now, their countryfolk now at the mercy of political outcomes which Newsom and others in America have failed to effectively manage among our own people.

Personally, I've long had my fill of macho politics that substitutes volume for effect or substance.

If Newsom wants Europeans to do something more to confront Trump; if he has specific ideas beyond being 'tall and strong;' he should spell those out more succinctly than the full-throated deriding he offered them today for practicing diplomacy at a diplomatic forum - do the work of diplomacy with our European allies so that we can all as he admonished, "stand united."

[BannonsLiver]

1. Yeah he needs to be more weak and ineffectual like Merrick Garland.

Imagine defending a federalist society republican stooge to the death while criticizing a Dem leader who dares to speak up about an insane tyrant. I’ve seen it all. 🙄

[LR3]

3. Yup, par for the course

What Dems really need is more caution and timidity

[sheshe2]

2. You are absolutely right.

[newdeal2]

4. Appeasement didn't work out too well for Europe in the 1930's

Why didn’t Germany take care of their own problem?

[brer cat]

5. I was disturbed when I heard him earlier today.

Talking down to people is not a good look, especially those already slammed by trump.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

6. He didn't "blow up"

And he was addressing the press, not European leaders.

You can see and hear him for yourself.

?si=z6FjBW-veSzKj4e5


Thanks to TexasTowelie:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1322103359


This knee jerk Dem hate is really getting old.

[TheProle]

12. So he didn't say...

“I can’t take this complicity. People rolling over. I should have bought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders” ?

[Skittles]

15. Newsom is right

NO ONE should be bending the knee to that fucking tyrant - NO ONE

[TheProle]

16. That wasn't my question to the previous poster, but noted.

The previous poster said that Newsom was addressing the press and the quote says "world leaders." Not in a position to watch vids right now, so just looking for confirmation of facts.

[Kingofalldems]

33. Right on time.

[BannonsLiver]

13. + 1. If I were casting a remake of The Darkest Hour starring DUers I know who would be playing Lord Halifax.

[IcyPeas]

20. Thanks for the video

Newsom and every other rational American are fed up with trump. He's robbing us blind. He is most likely a pedophile of the worst kind. He's declared war on American cities and that doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon with all the money being poured into it.

Everyone does talk behind his back. The emperor wears no clothes.... until someone says it out loud.

I wish and hope more leaders would speak up. We hear often that dems can't do anything because we're the minority blah blah blah... but leaders have voices. The press are useless. The words don't have to be perfect but somebody has to start saying out loud what we're all thinking..

[bigtree]

23. i'm a considered writer, not a kneejerk poster, and I always make the effort to be clear

...as I have in the op.

I don't know what you're calling 'Dem hate' but I can assure you that I don't have a modicum of hatred for Gavin Newsom, so I'm not going to spend time on that.

I've enjoyed a long enough life that I've been privileged to bring my support to each and every Dem nominee for president, and in my district and state, as well.

In those instances, I often find myself sprinting far ahead of most of the Democratic debate over their fitness or efficacy of their candidacy; looking behind and seeing not the actual opposition tearing them down, but our own professed Democrats creating drag on them.

If this fellow runs for president (I don't vote in Ca,), and I think that's what you;re getting at here, you won't find a stronger supporter when he's nominated, and I won't drag him to the ground with complaints about him being 'weak' on something or the other, or grind down on his messaging.

I don't think he did that effort any favors, and, that's what I'm getting at. he's not a candidate, but if he's seeking my vote in a primary race that's likely to have an expansive field, maybe he could demonstrate the professionalism and diplomacy that I expect from my president in publicly relating what he wants to other leaders around the world, especially our allies.

That's the leadership that I expect and have grown fond of in my decades of this.

We live in a world where the U.S.'s success has been greatly enhanced by our ability to not only forge good cooperative relationships with other nations, but our respect for their own ability to make those decisions for themselves, whether or not they want to have those relationships with us.

Although Gov. Newsom gave their sovereignty lip service after berating them, he did so with the assumption that European leaders had an obligation to stand with a California governor whose country doesn't seem to have it's sit together enough to even save his own state from Trump yet, admittedly, despite how 'tall and strong' he's decidedly been in opposition.

Newsom hasn't yet figured out how to stop Trump, any more than leaders who aren't in any way a part of the solution to removing him from power. He has a Dem dominated state with a solid, workable Dem majority. He can't assume everyone else can just muscle their way through this crisis.

What's wrong with just leaving it at speaking his mind to those leaders, and not coming out and deriding them at the same time Trump is attacking them from the other side? Wouldn't it be more effective to continue to appeal to them in private, instead of trying to emasculate them in this forum?

I got the sense here that Newsom is on a learning curve, and it's frankly surprising to see him come forth with a response that's so scolding and condescending. I'd think he'd realize Europeans have had more than enough of that kind of arrogance from the U.S. already, and would offer a different face to allies who'v been treated as doormats lately, despite their past sacrifices for this country.

I mean, he's not actually the boss of them.

[cachukis]

28. European parliaments have frank discussion, at

least from what I have seen. I have been in a few pubs and taverns where offense is a challenge for repaste or rebuttal.
The Eurpoeans need a calling out. They have been milking our largesse while we have been reaping financial rewards. Trump has played this well.
The Eurpopeans have been exposed, but we have had the best of it. Trump has brought this to a head.
The symbiosis is unraveling. It has been good while it lasted. The pax romana inevitably ends.
Not sure this will turn out well.
Regardless, I suspect American comeuppance has been awaited by the world.
We'll see how well our oligarchs manage our needs.
Not particularly confident watching oligarchs elsewhere.

[Greg_In_SF]

7. If he is planning to

run for President, he needs to act more professional.

[Starbeach]

8. Non-ugly American

He at least represents American disgust with Trump. But this is a thoughtful post.

[creon]

9. not even wrong

full stop

[Skittles]

18. THANK YOU

WTF, NO ONE SHOULD BEND THE KNEE FOR DONALD FUCKING TRUMP

[cachukis]

10. We are always in transition. Trump has spoiled the

media with gish gallop entertainment. The world is consumed; all of us. Newsome is a response.
We are not going back to what we have experienced as normal.
Who in America can appeal to the entertained American so inured to the last ten years of trump?
Newsome has a piece of the stage and now our scrutiny from a past era.
We aren't going back.
Can he manage? He is cutting his teeth unlike many others. He is trying to manage the great divide of voters and annoying many of us on the left.
But the leftists want radical change and the Bernie's and AOC's want to stretch and pull us to social liberal world view.
Newsome is making us all think. He sees the trans issue as polarizing. He is right. He sees a billionaire tax as disruptive to the California economy. He is right.
He is calling out the appeasement in the European Union. He is right.
Will he refine his argument and presentation? At least he is presenting a standard to which we will all compare.
Good for democracy, no?

[IcyPeas]

22. Agree

Read my response #20

Reminds me of the quote "speak your mind even if your voice shakes"

[leftstreet]

11. DURec

[fujiyamasan]

14. Sorry he's absolutely right

Trump can’t be negotiated with in good faith. He recognizes nothing but strength and a show of force. It doesn’t have to be physical but they definitely need to buck up and show resolve.

Many European leaders have kicked these security concerns down the road for decades, with little to show in terms of a unified military and hardly any domestic energy supplies. They have already been victims of Putin (who they similarly tried to appease). Trump is bullying them because he can.

Newsom is sounding a warning. Hopefully they’ll listen.

[boston bean]

17. I would say he is right. It's a fucking embarassment from all corners. Not excusing any US politician.

But Europe can also not be his doormat. It should be said. This is how we fight to win. Pull the cloak of weakness back.

[Raine]

19. Totally agree with you. nt

[Renew Deal]

21. Newsom is right. And Europe consistently looks weak.

Europe thought they could play along. They are just realizing that the world they thought they left behind is back and has been since at least 2022.

[haele]

30. Europe looks weak because they're dealing with internal issues

Last edited Tue Jan 20, 2026, 08:32 PM - Edit history (1)

And got lulled by Biden's US policy and economics trying to help everyone dig themselves out of COVID.
It's going to hurt them bad to stand up no matter if they kneeled to the Project 2025 clowns first, or turn their backs on the US, and they know it.
This is a pull off the bandaid too early quickly or slowly situation, and the EU, at the very least, needs to quickly figure it out as one voice instead of 1/3 of the EU flipping the bird to *Rump, 1/3 dithering around because of, well, investments and their own billionaire boi clubs - with the final third remaining quiet because they were going to follow the majority no matter what was decided.
Dithering makes it worse.
The Billionaire elites and resource Oligarchs can't sustain their own wealth and luxury once they start crashing the economy. And it's going to be a hard empire ending crash; too much money is separated from real assets and based on speculation.
Rich people honestly think working people trying to keep from dying off will happily stop rebuilding effort for themselves and their families or communities - for otherwise worthless inflated money instead of something tangible.

On edit, why does autocorrect think lulled is not a word?

[TimeToGo]

35. What do you mean by

“And got killed by Biden's US policy and economics trying to help everyone dig themselves out of COVID.“

[haele]

36. Sorry, typing on my phone, will correct the stupid

Autocorrect I'm always having to turn off.

[TimeToGo]

40. 😎 We've all been there

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. I couldn't agree more

Personally, I've long had my fill of macho politics that substitutes volume for effect or substance.

That nails it right there.

[GoodRaisin]

25. He's right though.

[themaguffin]

26. Maybe. I think that they get it.

[LonePirate]

27. I'm on Newsom's side here. The entire world needs to be more vocal in their stances against Trump.

They need to stop fellating him as Newsom implied.

[Irish_Dem]

29. Hell no. TIME TO KICK SOME ASS.

Time for being sweet, nice, and sending letters to be totally over.

[anciano]

31. "Nice guys finish last." Leo Durocher

[kimbutgar]

32. I voted for him for governor but I'd rather have someone else as President

He is too bothsiderism !

[Escape]

34. I support Newsom's remarks and attitude 100%..

More please, from every other Democrat in the country.

We are at WAR. We can't pretend it's a debate, a difference of opinion or a time for diplomacy.

The world is very angry at the United States...and they should be. We need to let them know that WE are just as angry.

Newsom '28!

[Emile]

37. Wondering what European leaders think of America voters.

[Chalco]

38. I find nothing wrong with what he said. nt

[ancianita]

39. Newsom is right about the complicity of the world's superrich. He's doing his part. I don't see any other Democratic

leader over in Davos doing any better. Do you? Nope.

Don't start chipping away at perfectly good Democratic leaders just because they're not perfect.

Newsom is the leader of the 4th largest economy on the planet. If what he thinks and says isn't good enough for you, just know that you're not helping the Democratic cause.

[NotHardly]

41. Nothing worse than mealy mouthed apologists & critics of courage

[OGBuzz]

42. Not a good look for Newsom.

I'm a big Newsom fan but this rant about European complicity and offering to bring knee pads was not his best moment. How about complicity in Washington and throughout America? Start there, your own back yard. Trump is in charge of the largest military and the largest economy on the planet and Europe is understandably afraid. Europe didn't elect this lunatic nor did they grant him the total and ultimate powers of a king.