Governor Gavin Newsom teased hitherto unknown forms of sitting after conservative media made a story out of his reclined position at Wednesday’s New York Times Dealbook Summit.
During his interview with New York Times columnist Andrew Sorkin, Newsom, 58, sat with his legs sharply crossed and his ankle bent so it was level with the stage.
The picture first spread through social media, where conservative posters joked that Newsom was crushing his testicles, and then earned a FOX News segment in which Republican strategist Katie Zachariah said, “That is such a pathetic pose. I do not see boss men, especially not President Trump, sit like that.”
In response to the controversy, the Governor Newsom Press Office account posted a photoshopped picture of Newsom in which his feet are pressed together by his head and his hands are clasped in prayer between his legs. The post is captioned, “Democracy requires flexibility.”
Newsom appeared at the Dealbook Summit to criticize the Trump administration’s energy and technology deals and offer a moderate, big-tent vision for Democrats moving forward.
“We have to be more culturally normal. We have to be a little less judgmental,” he said. “We have to be a party that understands the importance and power of the border.”
Newsom was likely grateful to counter more frivolous critiques of his appearance at the event. Two speakers before Newsom took the stage, actress Halle Berry, 59, slammed the governor for vetoing the Menopause Care Equity Act in California, which seeks to extend insurance coverage for menopause-related care.
“Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one, but two years in a row,” Berry said.
“The way [Gavin Newsom] has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying,” she said.
The moment was a loud instance of left-wing criticism of Newsom as the governor raised his 2028 presidential profile through frequent Trump attacks and the passage of Prop 50, which granted California five more congressional seats in retaliation for Texas drawing a heavily gerrymandered map ahead of the 2026 midterms.
On Wednesday, Newsom told a TMZ reporter that he had spoken to Berry’s manager and said he was “reconciling this.”
A spokesperson for Newsom told Newsweek that he “vetoed the bill because, as written, it would have unintentionally raised healthcare costs for millions of working women and working families already stretched thin—something he’s determined to avoid."
“We’re confident that by working together this year, we can expand access to essential menopause treatment while protecting women from higher bills,” the statement added.
