Trump’s Strange Answer on Gavin Newsom is Part of Larger 2024 Picture

American politicians like to think of themselves as cunning masters of subterfuge, operating in some ethereal, powerful place that the rest of us cannot fathom.  They’re akin to the rulers of yore, and they may actually believe that their clandestine avenues of influence are hidden away from the public eye like some subplot from House of Cards.

In reality, however, it’s not terribly difficult to discern what most of our elected officials are doing behind the scenes.  They’re actually fairly oblivious to their obviousness at times, and the political aficionados of our nation have little trouble sniffing out where some of the wilder behavior is coming from.

For instance, former President Donald Trump’s surprising lack of venom when it comes to discussing California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Former President Donald Trump is receiving criticism from some on the right in the wake of comments he made in which he said he “could never hit” California Gov. Gavin Newsom because the liberal Democrat was “so nice to me.”

“You have a very ambitious guy in California, but he’s done a terrible job with the state,” Trump, who is also a 2024 presidential candidate, said in an interview on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “I used to get along great with him when I was president. Got along really good … Gavin.”

Sure, Trump got his digs in, but he also ceded some space to the ambitious Golden State Governor.

“I did. I really did. He was always very nice to me, said the greatest things. He would say things like, ‘He’s doing a great job.’”

“About you?” Carlson said.

“About me, that’s why I could never hit him because he was so nice to me, just laying in wait right?” Trump said. “But he was very nice to me, relatively speaking.”

Normally we’d find Trump seething when discussing any similarly influential Democrat, but here’s the issue:  Newsom has a similar hope of neutering Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign before it even gets off the ground.

This puts the California Governor, (and potential Democratic presidential candidate), in the “enemy of my enemy” category with Trump, and there it little doubt that this situation is playing heavy on the mind of the former President.