California Gov. Gavin Newsom was spotted scoffing from the front row of a Davos forum when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent parroted MAGA talking points on stage.
His visible reaction came after Bessent claimed that President Donald Trump’s “drill baby drill” ethos has driven gas prices below $2 a gallon, reports CBS News White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs.
“Newsom took notes and silently scoffed at some of Bessent’s comments, including that ‘drill baby drill’ has gotten gasoline prices downward below $2, that Trump has other prices coming down, and that there will be a real rise in income in [the] coming year,” she revealed on X.
Jacobs noted that Newsom, who said he traveled to Switzerland to present to the World Economic Forum “a clear line between democratic capitalism and crony capitalism,” was seated next to Bessent’s staff.
A photo she shared shows that Newsom was in Bessent’s line of sight.
Newsom took notes during Bessent’s remarks, which included the former hedge fund manager, who is worth an estimated $600 million, bizarrely claiming American retirees are buying “five, 10, 12 homes.”
Newsom, 58, may have been rolling his eyes when Bessent took a victory lap over sub-$2 gas prices because the nationwide average for a gallon of gas is actually $2.82, reports AAA. The average price per gallon is not below $2.50 in any state.
There is also no evidence to support that Trump is driving down other costs for Americans, as Bessent claimed.
Trump, 79, has focused more on his imperial ambitions in Venezuela, Greenland, and Canada, as well as slapping his name and tacky gold accents to everything he can in Washington, than he has on the affordability crisis, which he has called a “hoax.”
Inflation as of last month remained at 2.7 percent, above the Fed’s target of two percent. Rising rents and grocery prices are driving the increase, Reuters reported last month.
Trump has not been Newsom’s only target while abroad. He also called out European leaders for not biting back at Trump as harshly as he has done in MAGA 2.0.
“It’s time to buck up. It’s time to get serious and stop being complicit. It’s time to stand tall and firm, have a backbone. I can’t take this complicity of people rolling over,” he told reporters. “I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean, handing out crowns, the Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic.”
He continued, “And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.”
The governor also offered some advice on how to counter Trump’s threats to seize Greenland.
“Europeans are being played by Trump. He’s a T. rex—you either mate with him, or he devours you,” he said. “They need to stand tall and united. We should’ve been having this conversation a year ago. He’s a wrecking ball. It’s code red.”
