ABC News’ Jonathan Karl put Gavin Newsom on the spot during a sit-down in San Francisco by producing printouts of viral memes and bluntly asking the governor what he made of being compared to Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. The exchange left Newsom visibly rattled as Karl pressed that even Newsom’s own friends were circulating the comparisons and the governor laughed it off before getting defensive about his image and policy work. The awkwardness was plain to see on camera, and the clip has since become another reminder that the mainstream media’s fawning coverage can collapse into cringe when Democrats are forced into real accountability.
Watching Newsom stumble through jokes about “the hair” and muttered asides like “I’m gonna re-evaluate my guest list” should make every patriotic American ask a simple question: is this style masquerading as leadership? For years Democrats have traded substance for spectacle, and moments like this expose what conservatives have long warned — when you prioritize optics over results, you end up with a governor more suited for a vanity spread than a briefing room. The clip proves an old truth: voters smell performative elites a mile away, and they’re done being lectured by men who look better in a suit than they govern in an office.
Right-wing commentators were quick to pounce, and Dave Rubin even shared a direct-message clip of his roundtable with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dissecting Jonathan Karl’s attempt to keep a straight face while Newsom tried to laugh off the “American Psycho” comparisons. Conservatives aren’t interested in cheap glee at someone’s discomfort, but we are interested in holding a man who wants national power accountable for the image and arrogance he parades around as leadership. Rubin’s segment underscores how the right sees through the coordinated media narrative and is ready to turn the spotlight on the real business of governing versus the theater of politics.
Make no mistake: this isn’t just late-night fodder or a meme that will fade by Monday morning. It’s evidence of a party that elevates chromium-coated charlatans who mistake charisma for competence and expect the public to applaud as they wander further from the concerns of everyday Americans. While Newsom preens and poses for magazines, families in California face skyrocketing costs, failing homeless policies, and public safety crises that demand a steady hand, not a Broadway-ready grin.
Conservatives should use moments like this to remind voters what real leadership looks like — accountability, humility, and a focus on policies that deliver for working Americans instead of cultivating an elite brand. Keep calling out the media’s double standards, keep exposing the performance politics, and keep offering a patriot’s alternative: leadership grounded in results, not reflection in a mirrored salon.
