Gov. Gavin Newsom walked back his office's comments slamming ICE agents during a podcast interview. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Newsom received widespread backlash from conservatives online after left-wing billionaire donor Alex Soros posted a photo of the pair to social media on Tuesday.
"So glad he’s here calling out world leaders for believing appeasement works when it comes to Trump," Soros captioned the photo of the pair. "It doesn’t. It only emboldens him to become more chaotic and destructive. World leaders could take a page out of Newsom’s book. It’s time to stand tall, stand firm, and stand united — before it’s too late."
The photo sparked mockery and condemnation from Trump officials and social media commenters, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quipping that Newsom is like "Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken."
He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else was on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at the French Laundry," Bessent continued during a Wednesday press conference.
"Gavin Newscum auditioning to be Alex Soros’ next sugar baby is a waste of time – all the money in the world could not make Newscum’s pitiful presidential dreams come true," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.
"Someone confiscate Alex Soros' Instagram account," Tim Miller, "Bulwark Podcast" host and MSNBC analyst wrote in response to Newsom and Soros showing off their friendship in Davos.
California Governor Gavin Newsom listens to President Donald Trump address the World Economic Forum in the Davos Congress Center on Jan. 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The California governor had yet another viral moment on Wednesday when he attended Trump's speech to the forum and was spotted smirking.
Trump called Newsom out by name amid his remarks on Wednesday, which overwhelmingly focused on his administration's first-year wins and heightened calls for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.
"We're going to help the people in California. We want to have no crime," Trump said during his address. "I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin when I was president. Gavin's a good guy, and we're going to. If he needed it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I'd love to see. We did help them a lot in Los Angeles, a lot with the early, early in my term when they had some problems. But we would love to do it."
Newsom was spotted in video footage and photos standing on the sidelines of the speech while listening to Trump, including appearing to smirk during the president's address.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a knee protector at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
After claiming that he should have brought kneepads for world leaders as they interact with Trump, Newsom whipped out a pair of what he called "Trump signature series kneepads" during a World Economic Forum session moderated by Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor.
"It's not what we should be doing. But you've got to point out the absurdity," Newsom said of the political prop.
The governor said the Trump administration has heightened its personal attacks against him, pointing to Bessent's "Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken" remark as evidence.
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"We're deeply in their head. I think the affordability agenda appears to be I'm living rent-free in the Trump administration's head," he said of the Trump administration.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office on Friday regarding his series of viral moments but did not immediately receive a reply.
Fox News Digital's Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/newsoms-davos-detour-5-cringe-moments-overshadowed-high-profile-summit