Let’s be clear: Governors commonly take trips abroad. Newsom is not the first governor to visit either China or Israel. His predecessors Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger also visited China and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently made her own trip to Israel.
But MAGA talk show host and fake psychological expert Gina Loudon teamed up with California congressional candidate Kate Monroe to claim that Newsom’s trips are proof he’s some kind of secret, "puppet" candidate for president.
Loudon began with a clip of Piers Morgan claiming that Newsom’s trip to China proves he’s throwing Joe Biden “under the bus.” Then she asked Monroe to tell us “the real story” of “what Newsom is really up to.” Monroe has no evident political experience and she certainly has no special connection to Newsom. But if Loudon can pass herself off as a psychological expert, why not present Monroe as a Newsom expert?
Monroe misleadingly called Newsom and his family “essentially oligarchy.” Then she claimed he has nothing to discuss with China unless Democrats are “putting him up for presidency, like a puppet.”
Never mind that California is one of the world’s largest economies with long-standing business connections to China.
The wingnuttery continued with Monroe claiming that Newsom’s presidential candidacy is “imminent” and Loudon asking if he has some “inside information that he’s going to be the heir apparent” instead of Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama.
Yes, he does have inside information, Monroe claimed. Vice President Harris is “not on the menu,” there’s too much “scrutiny over the death” on Obama’s property, and “the ship has sailed on Hillary Clinton.” That’s what passes for proof on Bannon’s Real America’s Voice network that Newsom is some kind of covert candidate.
The discussion closed with Monroe lying about her congressional run. She falsely called the district “only D+3” and claimed her business acumen made her win an “inevitability.” In reality, incumbent Rep. Mike Levin won re-election last year by more than five points.
I’m sure Newsom will not challenge Biden for the presidency. But if he’s positioning himself for some future run or a place in Biden’s future administration, so what? The two Bannon dopes would not be talking about it if they didn’t see him having quite a promising future.
