Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Scott Bessent Unleashes On Gavin Newsom For Calling Trump ‘T-Rex’ And Carrying Around Knee Pads

Screenshot/YouTube/POLITICO

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rebuked Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom again during a Friday episode of “The Conversation with Dasha Burns” after harshly criticizing him on Wednesday.

Bessent likened Newsom to “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” on Wednesday after the governor called President Donald Trump “a T-Rex” on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF). During the Friday Politico podcast, Bessent called Newsom “a brontosaurus” with a tiny brain, among other insults.

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“I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking up with some of these things he’s saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo,” the Treasury secretary said. “And being on the national stage is very different than being governor of California with no signature achievements. But to say strange things like President Trump is a Tyrannosaurus Rex — what the hell does that mean?”

“You know, I could say Gavin Newsom is a brontosaurus with the brain the size of a walnut,” he continued. “And if he brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros. I don’t know.”

Newsom displayed knee pads that he sells on his website at the WEF on Thursday, claiming they were designed for leaders “selling out” to the Trump administration, CNBC reported.

“The last round of knee pads sold out, just as our law firms are selling out,” the governor said, according to CNBC. “Many American universities are selling out, and yes, many corporate leaders are selling out to this administration.”

He also held up one of the red knee pads, which contained Trump’s signature, according to the outlet.

“Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris,” Bessent said on Wednesday. “He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is a perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church.”

Alex Soros is the chair of the Open Society Foundations’ Board of Directors and the son of left-wing billionaire George Soros. The younger Soros posted a photo with Newsom on X on Tuesday.