California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife — who prefers to be called the “First Partner” — Jennifer Siebel Newsom slammed President Donald Trump after he sat down for a rather intense interview with “60 Minutes,” speaking with a female host, ripping him for “speaking to a woman journalist with that level of contempt.”
The interview included a rather fiery exchange between Trump and Norah O’Donnell after she asked a series of questions about the shooting suspect from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. President Trump called O’Donnell a “disgrace” and “disgraceful” as the two traded verbal jabs. The president’s wrath was unleashed on the female host after she read several excerpts from Cole Tomas Allen’s “manifesto.”
Allen went on in his writings to describe President Trump as a “rapist,” “pedophile,” and “traitor.” Siebel Newsom took to social media platform X where she wrote, “My family and I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump and Norah O’Donnell last night, and we were shocked. 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.”
According to a report from Fox News, the “first partner” then added, “But that is the problem. 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, shaping how boys and plenty of men see women and girls and what they come to accept as normal behavior.”
The “60 Minutes” interview took place the night following the assassination attempt on President Trump’s life. Allen, 31, hailing from Torrance, California, had prepared a manifesto that explained his intent, which was chock full of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric from social media. O’Donnell read several portions of the document that suggested the president was a sexual abuser and traitor, which immediately made him defensive and angry.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump responded to O’Donnell. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.” O’Donnell then asked, “Do you think he was referring to you?” Trump, growing more angry with the allegations being made against him, said, “I’m not a pedophile.”
“You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all…stuff that has nothing to do with me,” Trump continued. “I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably…’ I read the manifesto.”
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“You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things,” the president said, defending his moral character from what was said about him in Allen’s manifesto. O’Donnell interrupted him and said she was quoting the gunman’s words. Trump responded by continuing to call her “disgraceful.”
“You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview,” Trump told O’Donnell. President Trump’s defense of himself from wild accusations offended Siebel Newsom’s sensibilities, which was made clear when she talked about the “culture of misogyny” put on display by Trump “is on all of us, and it has to end.”
“Add in rhetoric rooted in political division, amplified by a digital ecosystem that rewards outrage and misinformation, and this cultural norm of hate, othering, and misogyny becomes pervasive,” Siebel Newsom added. “Behavior that should be challenged gets normalized; what should raise concern is amplified and cheered on. It’s no wonder we have a culture that normalizes dominance and aggression toward women and girls, which not only silences them but also leads to internalized misogyny in others.”
Conservatives wasted no time coming to Trump’s defense. “What’s really disgusting about this clip is Norah O’Donnell’s fake innocent surprise: ‘oh you think he was referring to you?’ She knows perfectly well that every day some fellow Democrat like Ted Lieu calls Trump a pedophile and rapist,” wrote New York Post columnist Miranda Devine. “Their white supremacy lies ran out of steam so this is the new hoax. Rich from a party that protects illegal alien child molesters.”
“Norah O’Donnell may have reached the low point in disgusting and inhumane demagoguery disguised as journalism,” former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on to say of the interview. “The idea that you would take the vicious dishonest and disgusting words of a would be killer who had been blocked by the Secret Service but would otherwise have killed a lot of people and you would dignify them by putting them on the air and asking the President of the United States to comment is about as destructive as anything a major reporter has done in a long time.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video