With protests in his state leading to frequent sparring with President Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying what Axios describes as a "new line of attack"—he's going after Trump's mental fitness. "He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he's incapable of even a train of thought," he told Fox LA ahead of Trump's 79th birthday on Saturday. "He's lost it." Newsom has taken jabs at Trump's age, speech, and gait in recent days, while also suggesting he couldn't remember on which day he made phone calls.
"Trump doesn't even know what day it is," Newsom wrote on X on Tuesday after the president told reporters that he had spoken to Newsom "a day ago" and that the call had lasted 16 minutes. A call log showed the call had actually taken place on Saturday, per the Independent. Newsom and other Democrats were also pointing to images of Trump tripping on the steps of Air Force One on Sunday. It was a brief stumble, quickly recovered from, but the Trump campaign had used video of former President Biden, then 81, tripping on those same steps to argue that he was no longer fit for office, per USA Today.
The White House is already trying to cut off this line of attack, with communications director Steven Cheung claiming Newsom "lied to the American public about Joe Biden's decline" during the last election. "Gavin Newsom will never be president, even as he tries to peddle these lies," Cheung said. Newsom, 57, is indeed considered a possible 2028 presidential contender, meaning his recent attacks on Trump could form part of a larger campaign message. (More Gavin Newsom stories.)
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