California Governor Gavin Newsom is being mocked online for an “embarrassing” televised address Tuesday night that experienced several technology meltdowns, resulting in the governor not being audible for parts of his speech.
In a prerecorded message, Newsom, a Democrat rumored to have presidential aspirations, harshly condemned President Donald Trump’s “brazen abuse of power” by using the military to respond to the ongoing anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles. He also said that those who engage in violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles,” Newsom said in the video. “This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.”
His address, however, was inhibited by several technical issues, which resulted in his audio being cut off and distorted several times.
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Noting the meltdown on X, David Freeman, a conservative political commentator, mocked “Gavin Newsom’s staff can’t even set up a stream properly as his ‘Major Announcement’ has NO AUDIO.”
“If they can’t do this correct, what makes anyone believe they can run California at all? EMBARRASSING!” said Freeman.
“UTTER CALAMITY,” commented Link Lauren, a political commentator and former senior advisor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kevin Dalton, a popular conservative influencer, commented, “Gavin Newsom’s ‘Major Address to Californians’ was a prerecorded video that was initially streamed without audio. After several minutes, a new color corrected version of the same video with actual audio was started. What an absolute fail.”
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Another popular conservative social media account, The Washington Observer, commented: “Sean Hannity is desperately trying to play Gavin Newsom’s speech — but he can’t, because Newsom’s audio is melting down for the third time tonight.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who observed the audio issues in real time on the Sean Hannity Show, also chimed in, saying, “So, I went on Sean Hannity to react to Gavin Newsom’s speech. Turns out, it was a total mess. Disorganized. Bad audio.”
Mullin quipped, “But, what else should we expect from this poor excuse for a leader?”
White House assistant to the president and director of communications Steven Cheung also piled onto the criticism, accusing Newsom of spending time creating the video rather than serving as governor. Likewise, Cheung took a swipe at the video’s audio, claiming the production quality was akin to Newsom’s leadership.
“Gavin NewScum spent all this time–instead of doing his actual job– preparing for a webinar just for the audio to not work,” Cheung said in a post on X late Tuesday evening. “The production quality is just like his leadership quality– sh***y.”
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Deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy communications director Alex Pfieffer responded to Newsom’s speech by saying that rather than Trump, “California is trying to subvert democracy.”
“American voters elected President Donald Trump to carry out his agenda, which includes enforcing the immigration laws passed by their elected representatives,” said Pfeiffer.
In response, Newsom’s press office referred Fox News Digital to a Tuesday night X post which acknowledged the issues by saying, “Sorry for the momentary silence earlier — our stream briefly went under Trump-era transparency rules.”
