Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Scott Jennings Excoriates ‘Total Clown’ Gavin Newsom’s Presidential Prospects

Screenshot/YouTube/ Manhattan Institute

Republican strategist Scott Jennings said he was unconcerned about Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential viability during a Manhattan Institute talk posted on Tuesday.

Newsom led among likely Democratic 2028 contenders with 21% support among registered voters who were Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, according to a Yahoo/YouGov poll conducted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2. However, when an audience member asked Jennings where Newsom was on his “radar” during the talk posted to the Manhattan Institute’s YouTube channel, the strategist replied, “Somewhere between Chuckles and Bozo on my clown scale.”

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“I mean, one of the least serious national people out there, a complete and total clown. And now, their are Democrats, so they oftentimes nominate complete and total clowns,” Jennings said. “So I guess I shouldn’t discount it totally, but he is so inauthentic … authenticity is really the only thing that matters right now in politics and media. [President Donald] Trump has changed everything. These people who exude inauthenticity fail almost every time. [Former Vice President Kamala] Harris was the most recent example.”

“She could not exist in a world that demanded authenticity. I view him that way. And so I don’t see it. I’m not a Democrat, so maybe I can’t see it. But I think that if you want to turn the rest of the country into California, that’s a choice,” he added. “But I think most Americans wouldn’t regard that as a good choice. And so I don’t personally see it. But I guess we’ll see what they want to do. But I think he is in politics for literally all the wrong reasons. And I think people kind of sense it.”

Newsom announced on CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” in October that he would weigh a potential bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2028 following the 2026 midterms. He has faced backlash from California voters for years over his policies, including those on crime and homelessness.

The governor also received pushback from his own party after asserting on his “This Is Gavin Newsom” podcast in March that biological men competing in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.”

An April Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found that 54% of 6,201 registered voters believed Newsom was “doing things that might benefit him as a possible candidate for president,” while just 26% thought he was “governing the state and helping to solve its problems.” An October Emerson College poll found that, in a hypothetical matchup between Newsom and Vice President JD Vance, 46% supported Vance, 45% backed Newsom, and 10% remained undecided.