Newsom mocks Trump stairs comments as shutdown begins: ‘A very weak man’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) mocked President Trump’s recent comments about walking up the stairs at the United Nations (UN), calling him a “very weak man” as government funding lapsed overnight.
“THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN IS HERE! HEALTH CARE FOR BABIES, MOMS & GRANDMAS HELD HOSTAGE BY A VERY WEAK MAN WHO CAN’T EVEN DO STAIRS. BUT DON’T WORRY, DEMOCRATS ARE STRONG AND TRUMP ALWAYS CHICKENS OUT (T.A.C.O.),” Newsom’s press office said in a post on social platform X early Wednesday, just past the midnight funding deadline.
“NO SOMBRERO NEEDED!” they added, referring to a controversial image shared by Trump that used artificial intelligence to impose a sombrero and mustache on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in an effort to mock Democrats amid the spending fight.
The post from Newsom’s office was highlighting an incident during the U.N. General Assembly earlier this month, when an escalator with Trump and first lady Melania Trump on it abruptly stopped, forcing the two to walk the rest of the way up.
“It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first,” Trump said last week on Truth Social. “It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster.”
The president called for an investigation into the incident, along with a probe into a teleprompter glitch and audio issues.
The U.N. blamed Trump’s team for the stalled escalator and the teleprompter malfunction, saying a videographer stepped on the escalator before Trump and the first lady were on it.
“As the videographer, who was traveling backwards up the escalator reached the top, the First Lady, followed by President Trump, each mounted the steps at the bottom. At that moment (9:50am), the escalator came to a stop,” an U.N. spokesperson said last week.
Now, with the government shut down, federal employees deemed non-essential will be furloughed, the collection of some economic statistics will be paused, and many services will be delayed or suspended. This is the first federal government shutdown in over six years.
GOP lawmakers have argued that they sought to keep government funding at its current level with legislation that would extend the deadline to Nov. 21. Democrats have stood firm on demands for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies and for Republicans to walk back some Medicaid cuts.
Newsom has gone after Trump in recent weeks on a host of topics, including the president’s weight and climate change remarks.
Trump slammed the Golden State governor when he announced that he would institute a 100 percent tariff on movies made outside the U.S.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby,'” the president wrote on Monday. “California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit.”
“Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100 percent Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States,” he added.