WATCH: Black Republican mercilessly mocks Gavin Newsom for changing accents around black people
Republican Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt blasted Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on a podcast Monday, accusing him of rolling out a brand new accent to pander to black audiences.
Clips from Newsom’s appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast, hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, went viral after he described “hustling” as a kid to take care of himself. During an interview with conservative host Benny Johnson on “The Benny Johnson Show,” which airs on YouTube, Hunt laughed as Johnson played the clip.
“Brother, we call this code switching, okay?” Hunt said as he laughed. “This is the efforts of white benevolent liberals that don’t view us as equal at all. And by us I mean black people. They talk down to us. They think we are too stupid to get an ID to vote. They think that we are incapable of following the law. They always want to give us handouts instead of hand ups. The white benevolent liberal is the most racist person I’ve ever seen in the history of this country and many of them don’t even know it.”
On his appearance on “All The Smoke,” Newsom discussed his childhood, saying his mother worked “two and a half” jobs while he essentially raised himself.
“It was also about paying the bills, man. It was just like hustling, and so I was out there kind of raising myself, turning on the TV … started, you know, just getting obsessed. [I was] sitting there with the Wonder Bread … the macaroni and cheese,” Newsom said as Jackson laughed. “This is how I grew up, bro. Every day in the backyard just bouncing the basketball, throwing the ball against the wall until the ball is just like frayed … that’s it. Whole thing.”
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“The condescending tone in which they address us is utterly ridiculous. They think they can now talk to two black basketball stars and then now all of a sudden, ‘I’m a brother now too because I’m hip and I’m down.’ To be honest with you is quite condescending. It’s actually quite disgusting because black men can’t think for ourselves,” Hunt added. “You cannot think that we are beneath you, that you are going to carry us and pat us on the head and say, ‘Come along, young boy, and let me show you the ways of the white man.’ We don’t need you to do that. The only thing I want from you is to treat us as equals and to respect us.”
Newsom was also criticized for his description of his childhood. The Democrat governor has previously discussed his struggles growing up and in school, often reflecting on his mother and how she had to constantly work.
However, many online, including comedian Adam Carolla, pointed out that Newsom’s late father, William Newsom, administered the Getty family’s billion-dollar fortune.
Notably, William Newsom attended school with former Democrat California Gov. Jerry Brown, as well as Gordon and Paul Getty Jr., members of the well-known Getty Oil dynasty. After Newsom graduated from college, he founded a Northern California winery backed by Getty money.
In 2003, William Newsom admitted he provided limited financial support to Gavin Newsom’s mother, telling the San Francisco Chronicle, “I made a foolish mistake of putting my own money in it and losing,” due to his failed 1968 Senate bid.
Over the years, Democrats have pandered to audiences by changing their accents, especially on the campaign trail.
In 2015, Bloomberg called out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her decade-long change in accent, noting that in 1983 she spoke with a more inland Southern accent despite being from Illinois. By the 1990s and 2000s, Clinton spoke without the heavy Southern accent, settling into a more neutral tone.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris was similarly criticized during her 2024 presidential campaign for switching accents depending on her audience.
At a Detroit campaign rally in September 2024, Harris said, “the brothers and sister of labor,” before delivering her infamous line, “You better thank a union member.” That same month, while speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference, Harris appeared to mimic a Hispanic accent, stating, “I luv you back.”
Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas have also faced criticism for accent pandering, adjusting their speech depending on their audience. In April, Ocasio-Cortez was called out for seemingly slipping into a Hispanic accent while speaking at a “Fight the Oligarchy” rally with Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
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