California Governor Gavin Newsom has weighed in on shock footage of President Trump appearing to flip the bird at a citizen who shouted a slur at him.
Footage obtained by TMZ shows Trump visiting the Ford plant in Michigan on Tuesday, where someone can be heard off-camera calling him a “pedophile protector.”
The 79-year-old appears to point at the accuser before saying “f— you” and flipping the middle finger in a hostile gesture.
The insult comes as Trump continues to be haunted by the botched release of the files relating to his former friend, child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
Newsom, always quick to mock Trump, shared the video on his X account with a theory on why the president appeared to be so rattled. “Struck a nerve?”
Newsom wasn’t done, using his troll-friendly Press Office X account to take another swing, asking “Why is the President attacking a fellow American?”
Struck a nerve? https://t.co/5z7kgA5aEM
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 13, 2026
The official X account of the Democrat Party also found time to praise the anonymous citizen shouter calling them “Employee of the month tbh.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung blamed a “lunatic” who “was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage,” in a statement to the Daily Beast, adding that the “President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”
Trump was in Michigan to “underscore the progress made in revitalizing our economy” according to a White House press release.
“After less than 12 months in office, I’m back in Michigan to report to you on the strongest and fastest economic turnaround in our country’s history,” Trump said.
In stark contrast to the TMZ footage, the White House‘s Rapid Response 47 official X account shared a video where a small group of workers at the Ford plant applaud Trump.
However the instant feedback he received in Michigan confirms that American citizens have not forgotten about Trump’s links to Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
.@POTUS is greeted by workers at @Ford‘s Dearborn Truck Plant — home of the F-150 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dhlaMcJqex
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 13, 2026
After intervention from the Trump administration, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security federal prison in Texas last year. She is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking crimes.
This month, the Department of Justice submitted court filings that reveal over 2 million files relating to Epstein have yet to be released and remain in “various phases of review.”
The DOJ said it has released around 12,285 documents so far, many of which have been heavily redacted.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required all of the department’s investigative files on the late pedophile to be released by Dec. 19, 2025.
Rogue Republican Thomas Massie has remained militant about having all the files made available.
Massie has also threatened Attorney General Pam Bondi with contempt of Congress over missing multiple deadlines to release overdue documents.
The post Gavin Newsom Has a Theory Why Furious Trump Gave the Finger appeared first on The Daily Beast.
