Person of the Week: Gavin Newsom: US President Joker had a drinking problem and couldn't read anymore

Person of the Week: Gavin Newsom
US President Joker could not read because he had an alcohol problem

By Wolfram Weimer
January 2, 2024 at 2:27 pm

What would happen if an ailing Joe Biden had to drop his candidacy? The California governor is then considered the favorite for the Democratic nomination. The dazzling media star is already running an intense shadow election campaign.

Gavin Newsom is not on the ballot for the upcoming US Democratic primary. But he does everything as he already was. California's savvy governor has run campaign ads around the country, founded the “Campaign for Democracy” fundraising campaign, met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Xi Jinping in China and posed for media photos on the Great Wall. China wearing aviator sunglasses. He is running against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a televised campaign battle, although only DeSantis of the two has announced his intention to become the next US president so far.

In short: Newsom is running a very loud shadow campaign. He is a candidate who is not officially one. Ailing US President Joe Biden has yet to drop out of the race – either because of age, health or polls as disastrous as they currently are – and the governor is seen as the clear favorite among Democrats. There is unrest in the party because, in his shaky state, it is believed that Biden will not be able to beat Donald Trump or moderate Nikki Haley in a re-election campaign. Newsom, on the other hand, would be the epitome of a new generation.

He is telegenic, intelligent, a successful baseball player and the modern incarnation of liberal California. He was mayor of San Francisco and introduced same-sex marriage on his own initiative. He has a touch of Hollywood about him – so (although he rejects its political agenda) he follows in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan, who repeatedly reached the White House as governor of California. The fact that he is married to women's and environmentalist actress and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Seibel fits the glamorous image.

Significantly further to the left than Biden

At first glance, Newsom would be the perfect replacement for Joe Biden. Traditionally, California has played a prominent role in America's political strategy. Newsom uses this position to express his vision for modern America. He has mastered the craft of operational politics from the executive branch. He has repeatedly launched provocative attempts at his left-green agenda, particularly on climate policy. He is currently suing oil companies Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP for complicity in global warming. Newsom has been a vocal advocate for same-sex marriage, abortion rights, universal health insurance for illegal immigrants, legalization of marijuana, stricter gun laws, and immigrants' rights. He historically describes the genocide of America's indigenous peoples and is a prominent opponent of the death penalty.

But Newsom's risk also begins with a tougher agenda. He is positioned significantly to the left of Bernie Sanders' right and Joe Biden. But as the elections in America are also won by the middle, he has to position himself calmly to become the president. He has been doing it for a few months now. He recently backed away from his plan for state-run injection sites for drug addicts, later opposed unions on a collective bargaining law, and finally joined Republicans in vetoing an effort to ban discrimination based on India's caste system. Such a ban is unnecessary, he said.

Three problems

But Democratic campaign strategists are worried about something else. Behind the facade of the radioactive man, Newsom also offers personal goals. In 2007, Newsom publicly admitted that he had an alcohol problem. She sought advice from Mimi Silbert, president of the Drug Counseling Foundation in San Francisco, but she denied in 2018 that she was in treatment. Newsom said at the time that he had not had a drinking problem in years and was “enjoying some alcohol again”.

A second important issue is that of severe reading disability; He suffers from severe dyslexia. Newsom openly admits that he has suffered from this his entire life, that he never attended a real university, and has never read a novel in his life. To compensate for his weakness, he prepares especially carefully for debates and speeches. Political opponents now point out that an illiterate person cannot be president of the United States.

Newsom's third personal problem concerns his varied affection for women. He once had an affair with his campaign manager's wife. Before his marriage to Jennifer Seibel, he was married to colorful TV host Kimberly Guilfoyle for four years. It's an irony of history that Guilfoyle is now in a relationship with Donald Trump Jr. So in the 2024 presidential campaign, Gavin Newsom will face not only Donald Trump, but his former rival's daughter-in-law.