California Gov. Gavin Newsom give an update to the state’s response to the coronavirus, at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova Calif., Tuesday, March 17, 2020. At right is California HHS Agency Director Dr. Mark Ghaly. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool)

Though I frequently disagree with California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), I have to admit he’s done a really good job not taking the bait when he’s appeared on news programs and talk shows where the liberally biased hosts have tried to bait him into bashing President Trump’s Wuhan coronavirus response.

He deflected attempts by CNN’s Jake Tapper to do so in a recent interview, and earlier today during an appearance on ABC’s “The View”, he smoothly shut down co-host Joy Behar’s predictable attempt to get him to politicize Trump’s efforts to combat the pandemic as it relates to his state.

Newsbusters’ Kristine March has the transcript:

Behar: “Yes, governor. You know it’s no secret that you have had a combative relationship with Trump in the past, but lately you have been praising him for the help he’s giving or of course, you have to because look how he treats governors who don’t, you know, kiss his ring. The governor of Washington, the governor of Michigan, he said they were not appreciative and told Mike Pence don’t call them back. You know, do you feel like you have to feed this guy’s ego to get the respirators and to get the PPEs? Is that what’s going on?”

Newsom: “Let me just acknowledge the frame of your question. We’re involved in over 68 lawsuits with the Trump administration, and so there’s no question we have had our differences of opinion on many issues but I just want to remind you that you and many others that maybe are not aware of this. We have been at this since late January. California got a head start in many respects where no one was really paying much attention. We started working with the administration directly to get these repatriated flights from mainland China into the state of California. Many states turned their back on those flights and those repatriation missions. California embraced them. We also had that “Grand Princess,” that large cruise ship where we worked very collaboratively with the federal government developed strong relationships of trust with emergency planning and how we can bring those passengers back into our diverse communities and all across the rest of the country.

As a consequence of that, our relationship began earlier than most, and so from that perspective, all I can say is from my perspective, the relationship has been strong and I’m not doing it to kiss the ring. I’m not doing it in a way, you know — I’m just being forthright with the president. He returns calls. He reaches out. He’s been proactive. We got that “Mercy” ship down here in Los Angeles. That was directly because he sent it down here. 2,000 medical units came to the state of California, these fms, these field medical stations, and that’s been very, very helpful and to the extent we’re going to need more, and I’ll let you know in a few weeks if that relationship continues.“

Watch the segment below, and note that co-host Sunny Hostin also tried to politicize the issue, which Newsom again rejected:

It is times like these when you find out who the adults in the room really are. Though Newsom, like many Democrats, is no doubt not letting this crisis go to waste in terms of how he thinks it will help him advance his utopian progressive ideals long-term, he’s shown numerous times in recent weeks that – unlike the Joy Behars of the world – he is not going to let the political games the media often play get in the way of keeping those vital lines of communication between himself and the White House open.

Now if only he’d do the right thing and suspend AB5…