California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, had some choice words for President Donald Trump after his recent 60 Minutes appearance.
“My family and I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump and Norah O’Donnell last night, and we were shocked,” Siebel Newsom, 51, shared via X on Monday, April 27. “Seeing a president speak to a woman journalist with that level of contempt — and a clear allergy to facts — is disturbing, though at this point not unexpected given his pattern of behavior.”
She continued, noting that the “problem” with how women are treated in society starts at the top. In this case, with President Trump.
“Because when that level of disrespect from the highest office in the country repeats itself, it starts to trickle down into our culture and define what power looks like,” Siebel Newsom explained. “Shaping how boys and plenty of men see women and girls and what they come to accept as normal behavior.”
She called out “rhetoric rooted in political division, amplified by a digital ecosystem that rewards outrage and misinformation” in a separate post.
“This cultural norm of hate, othering, and misogyny becomes pervasive,” Siebel Newsom wrote. “Behavior that should be challenged gets normalized; what should raise concern is amplified and cheered on.”
Siebel Newsom was referring to Trump’s interview with CBS News’ O’Donnell, which aired on Sunday, April 26, one day after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
O’Donnell, 52, quoted a line from alleged shooter Cole Tomas Allen’s manifesto.
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Allen allegedly wrote. Trump took that line to be a reference to his friendship with late billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump told O’Donnell. “Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell replied, “Oh, do you think he was referring to you?”
Trump was quick to tell the 60 Minutes correspondent that she should be “ashamed” for reading that part of Allen’s alleged letter.
“Excuse me, excuse me. I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with old stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated,” Trump said. “You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes. You’re a disgrace. You’re disgraceful.”
Siebel Newsom thanked O’Donnell in her final social media post on Monday, along with “all of the female journalists.”
She concluded, “And frankly to all of YOU who continue to be brave and speak truth to power. This culture of misogyny is on all of us, and it has to end.”
