President Donald Trump has bragged about how much “respect” other world leaders have for him, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday offered up a blunt fact-check.
“I’ve had the privilege of meeting a lot of foreign leaders,” Newsom said at a Politico event in California on Wednesday. “They’re laughing behind his back.”
Newsom has been trolling Trump online for weeks by mimicking his bombastic social media style.
But his comments on Wednesday, he said, were based on “dozens and dozens” of encounters with foreign leaders and officials.
“They’re laughing behind his back,” Newsom said. “He’s being played everywhere. It’s an embarrassment.”
Newsom’s comments call to mind footage from Trump’s first term in office that many believe show world leaders snarking behind his back at a reception in Buckingham Palace:
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World leaders also openly laughed at Trump at the 2018 United Nations General Assembly as the president bragged about his supposed accomplishments:
