Gavin Newsom criticizes Biden for forgiving Hunter’s crime: ‘I trusted the president’s promise’

Gavin Newsom says he’s ‘disappointed’ in Joe Biden after the president announced a shock lame duck pardon for his son Hunter. 

The announcement has sparked criticism from various quarters, with some questioning the president’s decision and others focusing on his apparent dishonesty with the media in the months leading up to it.

Throughout the year, Newsom stood staunchly by the side of the 82-year-old president, defending him and serving as a spokesperson, even in the aftermath of his lackluster performance in the June debate in Atlanta. However, it appears that Newsom has now reached a breaking point.

While acknowledging the difficult choice the president made to shield his son from potential legal consequences, Newsom ultimately expressed his disagreement with Biden’s reversal of position.

‘With everything the president and his family have been through, I completely understand the instinct to protect Hunter,’ Newsom told Politico Tuesday. 

‘But I took the president at his word. So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.’ 

It’s a sharp turn from the California liberal, who has remained in Biden’s corner to the bitter end this year. 

Newsom set his sights on nationwide recognition this year by appearing on TV clashing over social issues with Republicans like Ron DeSantis – and front and center at the presidential debate in June, where he adamantly defended Biden’s catastrophic performance. 

While Newsom said that claims that he could replace Biden were ‘farcical,’ his appearance sparked claims that the governor was placed in front of cameras at the debate as part of a plan to take over as the candidate for the Democrats. 

The governor also dismissed the notion that Biden could be replaced and urged in a fundraising email for the Democrats after the debate: ‘Don’t look at 30 minutes… look at 3 and a half years of Joe Biden as president.’

His role as one of the Biden campaign’s top surrogates made him a target of Republicans who have repeatedly held up California as an example of Democrats’ mismanagement. 

Newsom’s term as California’s governor is up in January 2027, and he is a favorite to be one of the top contenders in the 2028 presidential race. 

However, Newsom appears set to spend the rest of his term doing battle with Biden’s replacement.

The governor announced Monday he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal fights with Donald Trump, despite the state’s massive budget shortfall.

The announcement came on the first day of a special session of the California legislature dedicated to preparing the liberal state for the second term of conservative Trump.

Trump’s return to the White House will likely resurrect the hostile relationship between the pair.

The president-elect has repeatedly called the Democrat ‘Newscum’, railed against crime in California, and ridiculed his electric car mandate.

If approved by the legislature, the California Department of Justice and state agencies would get the extra funding for court battles in areas such as reproductive rights, environmental protection and immigration.

‘The new litigation fund will help safeguard critical funding for disaster relief, health care, and other vital services that millions of Californians depend on daily’, the governor wrote in the proposal. 

He added the state plans to ‘defend against unlawful federal actions that could jeopardize not only tangible resources and the state´s economy’ as well as protection of reproductive health care and civil rights.

The fights could also force the federal government to pay needed funding, Newsom said in a statement, citing successful legal skirmishes with the federal government during the first Trump administration.