First There Was Newsom's Implosion Over His GA Remarks, Now His Team Is Making It Worse

As we reported, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made some remarks in Georgia that many thought were racist. Then, on top of that, his reaction to the backlash showed how unhinged he was as he cursed out Fox News pundit Sean Hannity and tried to deflect to a weird "but Trump" defense.

If that implosion wasn't enough, his director of communications, Izzy Gardon, then made things even worse when the national political reporter from RealClear Politics, Susan Crabtree, asked for information about Newsom's claim that he had dyslexia. The response from Gardon was insane.

Profanity alert:

Here’s the exact questions I asked his taxpayer-funded comms team to elicit the “fuck you” response — I live in California, BTW. pic.twitter.com/tqTv8FKwRK
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) February 23, 2026

Now that seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to ask about since Newsom made his dyslexia a big thing. If he intends to run for president, we would need to know more about how he might be able to perform in the job.

Boom: MS Gov. Tate Reeves Schools Gavin Newsom on California Reading Scores vs. Mississippi

However, that response was not normal. Remember, Gardon is someone paid for by the citizens of California. Crabtree, in addition to being an award-winning, excellent reporter, also lives in California, and this is how they treat her?

But Gardon wasn't done yet. He claimed that Crabtree wasn't a real reporter.

A MAGA blogger taking a break from Bigfoot and UFO conspiracies wants to audit the Governor’s childhood medical records. Now she’s upset we told her to fuck off 😂 https://t.co/6cBPz8ltG3
— Izzy Gardon (@iGardon) February 23, 2026

This is the guy who could be in charge of White House communications if somehow Newsom were to win. Could you ever imagine White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaking as Gardon did?

Even if you didn't like the question, you should still respond professionally. Being gross was a choice. Democrats talk about "norms" - while they flout them all over the place.

So did Democrats call him out for this behavior? On the contrary, here's the hot take from Democratic operative Neera Tanden.

This is absurd. Susan is trolling. I understand why you don't want to cop to that. Your base may fall for this crap but we don't. https://t.co/vtny0lysvt
— Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) February 24, 2026

How dare anyone ask any questions! And this is what you would get if they got back into power. They don't think you are owed explanations. Take what they say and sit down. But again, it just makes them look worse and like Newsom is not fit for higher office.

Even if the reporter was trolling (which I don’t believe she was), why would you as a PR flack get extremely defensive like this? The flack might feel good about themselves for a minute, but they just make it look like the boss has something to hide. https://t.co/2VyOTEcnx5
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 24, 2026

Oh yes why would anyone ever ask for proof about health diagnoses candidates put front and center after JOE BIDEN HAS A STUTTER https://t.co/1gqUnz2Vof
— Benjamin Domenech (@bdomenech) February 24, 2026

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