On the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump being sworn into office for the second time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the fiercest and most public critics, escalated rhetoric Tuesday against the president while admonishing European leaders.<\/p>\n
Newsom, a Democratic presidential contender, urged the leaders of European nations to \u201cwake up\u201d while slamming them for \u201crolling over\u201d to Trump while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis b\u2014—- diplomacy of sort of niceties, somehow we\u2019re all going to figure it out, saying one thing privately and saying another publicly. Have some spine,\u201d Newsom fired off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ferocious comment came hours after President Trump took to social media to share a screenshot of text messages<\/a> from French President Emmanuel Macron, who called Trump his \u201cfriend\u201d in an appeasing tone.\u00a0<\/p>\n The California governor has been intensifying his criticism against the president on a wide range of issues, including foreign policy and immigration. Earlier this month, Newsom released a statement, calling Trump \u201cbrainless<\/a>\u201d for withdrawing from the United Nations climate framework and surrendering global leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n As Newsom likened the president to an apex predator, the governor also had a warning message for Europe: traditional diplomacy won\u2019t work with Trump.<\/p>\n \u201c(Trump) is T. rex: You mate with him or he devours you. One or the other, and you need to stand up to it,\u201d he said. \u201cEuropeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they have been doing. And they have been played. This guy has been playing folks for fools.\u201d<\/p>\n The California governor, who has been selling red knee pads for \u201call your groveling to Trump needs\u201d on the website of his political action committee Campaign for Democracy, upped the ante by saying he should have brought the knee pads to Davos and hand them out to the European leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t take this complicity \u2013 people rolling over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The California governor also took a jab at the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Machado, who handed her award to Trump following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNobel prizes that are being given away. It\u2019s just pathetic,\u201d he said. “And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n