Bessent Roasts Newsom at World Economic Forum While California Burns

When Hypocrisy Gets a Standing Ovation

Scott Bessent didn’t come to Davos to play nice. The Treasury Secretary took one look at Gavin Newsom rubbing elbows with billionaires at the World Economic Forum and decided someone needed to say what everyone’s been thinking for years. And boy, did he deliver.

“Very, very ironic that Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris.” That’s not just a burn. That’s a cremation.

The comparison is almost too perfect. Patrick Bateman, the soulless Wall Street psychopath from American Psycho, combined with Sparkle Beach Ken, the vapid plastic doll. It captures something essential about Newsom that Californians have watched play out in real time. The slicked-back hair, the expensive suits, the hollow platitudes about compassion while his state crumbles. He looks the part of a leader, sounds vaguely competent when reading from a teleprompter, but scratch the surface and there’s nothing there.

The French Laundry Moment That Defined Everything

Here’s where Bessent really twisted the knife. He brought up the French Laundry incident, and honestly, how could he not? When you’re telling regular folks they can’t go to church, when you’re having people arrested for the crime of worshiping together, and then you’re caught at a thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner with lobbyists? That’s not just hypocrisy. That’s aristocratic contempt.

“He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros,” Bessent said. “And Davos is a perfect place for a man who when everyone else was on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at the French Laundry.”

You know what makes this sting? It’s true. Every word of it. While small businesses shuttered permanently, while kids fell behind in Zoom school, while depression and suicide rates climbed, Newsom lived like royalty. Rules for thee but not for me. It’s the oldest story in politics, but rarely has it been so perfectly illustrated.

The Backbone Speech That Backfired

And then Newsom had the audacity to lecture world leaders about standing up to President Trump. “It’s time to buck up, it’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” he declared. “I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders.”

Classy, right? This from a man who’s spent years rolling over for every progressive interest group, every public sector union, every radical activist with a megaphone. California has the highest taxes, the worst homelessness crisis, rolling blackouts, water shortages, and a mass exodus of productive citizens. But sure, Gavin, lecture everyone else about leadership.

Alex Soros loved it, of course. Posted his approval on X, calling Newsom “the real star” of Davos. Nothing says man of the people like getting a pat on the head from a billionaire heir whose family fortune was built on currency manipulation.

California Dreaming Turns Into California Screaming

Let’s talk about Newsom’s economic record for a second. California should be unstoppable. Perfect weather, Pacific trade access, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, agriculture, tourism. Every natural advantage you could want. And yet Newsom’s managed to drive it into a ditch.

Budget deficits that would make a banana republic blush. Homelessness that’s turned San Francisco and Los Angeles into open-air asylums. Crime that’s forcing retailers to lock up toothpaste. Middle-class families fleeing to Texas, Florida, anywhere with sane governance.

Bessent’s comparison to Kamala Harris wasn’t random. Both of them rose through California politics by looking good and saying the right things to the right people. Neither one demonstrated actual competence at managing anything. Harris couldn’t even run a functional campaign staff. Newsom can’t run a functional state.

The Davos Crowd Loves a Good Performance

What’s Newsom even doing in Davos? He’s a governor, not a head of state. But that’s always been his problem. He thinks he’s president-in-waiting. He’s been auditioning for the role since he first slicked back his hair and practiced his concerned face in the mirror.

The World Economic Forum is perfect for him. It’s all performance, no substance. Everyone congratulating each other for caring about climate change while flying in on private jets. Discussing income inequality over champagne that costs more than most people make in a week. It’s political theater for people who’ve forgotten what actual work looks like.

Bessent calling this out matters because it cuts through the pretense. We’ve spent too long pretending that people like Newsom are serious leaders with serious ideas. They’re not. They’re actors playing a role, and not even particularly good ones.

The emperor has no clothes. Bessent just said it louder than anyone else has dared.

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