Gavin Newsom Upset In First Post-Candidate Interview (VIDEO)

Last Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom sat down for his first interview since abruptly dropping out of the California gubernatorial race last month.

It didn't go very well.

CBS 5 political reporter Hank Plante asked Newsom about an unscheduled trip and a number of missed appearances. The mayor got testy, saying he was there to talk about the deficit. But when he was asked about that topic, Newsom refused to say more than that he was working on it.

At the end, Newsom ripped off his microphone and walked out saying he was "amazingly disappointed."

Watch:

The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized last week about Newsom's sudden hostility towards the press:

The "less is more" act might have added to the celebrity intrigue of Greta Garbo or Michael Jackson, but avoiding the press doesn't work with the roll-up-your-sleeves job description of a big-city mayor. [...]

Yet for some reason (and his retreat from public view has allowed speculation only to swirl), he isn't offering an explanation for his shunning the journalists whose attention he was courting mere weeks ago.

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Comments

[thedesertdweller]

This jerk reporter has basically copied the Fox news formula which is to annoy a public figure regarding things of no public policy merit. Then when it goes bad, as it was designed to do, the reporter or network uses it to create a false story where the reporter becomes a hero for "breaking" (manufacturing) news.

When HP readers start buying into the Fox formula, having no clue that they have absorbed the MEME of the tea bagers on an energy level me thinks there's no hope...

What is wrong with all of you who think this was anything but an ambush focusing on things that have nothing to do with public policy? Who cares about the guys schedule or family time? These same questions could be asked of any public figures as they all are constantly juggling their time!

This style of aggressive questioning is only appropriate if you actually have something of merit that a politician has done wrong. If journalism becomes nothing more then a pissing contest between reporters trying to make a name for themselves or appear relevant then I think it's time for us to "get a life" because this kind of stuff is no more important then watching teenage reality TV celebrities on MTV tell each other why they are mad at each other...

[SFBunkSurf]

Gavin has been a lousy politician and I think he should get out of it and go run some of his numerous businesses... I just don't think he has the b@lls for politics, too easily ruffled...

[monkface]

Looks like he's drinking again to me

[patrick w henry]

i've been supportive of this Mayor having voted twice for him.

however, one of the reasons i felt his ambitions for the CA governor's mansion may have been misguided was a concern that the stress of campaigning (while also marrying, having a baby and moving) might challenge his sobriety. and/or give rise to the kind of compulsive behaviors that contributed to his past adultery, divorce and drinking problems.

he seems like a genuinely concerned public-servant to me. however, he appears to push himself too hard. and i continue to wish him success in all things.

i hope his close family/friends/advisers are helping him ease out of the competition and prepare to eventually return to civilian life. i'm guessing this recent petulance will minimize voters interest in seeing him as a congressman or senator in the near future.

[Chanrazig]

I've never been a Newsom supporter and agree he didn't have the experience...or the character for the job. Having said that I also feel politicians need time away from the public eye where they can rest and reflect. No one does well with 24 hour scrutiny. The good ones know this and have their Camp Davids or go to Truman's ' foxhole of the mind".

I think Newsom was pushed, hard, out of the governers race and he is 'in recovery'. He needs some time and deep reflection. If he can face his inner demons, honestly, he'll grow. If he doesn't he'll self-immolate. I wish him luck.

[jones]

Wait'll Sarah runs for office.....Newsom's bad behavior with the media will seem as serene as a yoga instructor.

[Terypat]

My condolences to the people of Cali. They just can't seem to get a break.

[c2morow]

Thank goodness we have legal medical MJ to get us through these tough times. :-))

[SFBunkSurf]

Oooooooooooooh yeah!

[Koreboomer]

I truly wish America could inculcate the kind of reporters they have in Britain...
they don't left politicians blather on...they ask tough, cogent questions, and they don't
try to be anyone's buddy.

[Moldes733]

This guy is a phony and immature, glad he dropped out of the race...would of been bad news for the dems if he actually got the nomination.

[FZliveson]

Newsome had a mouse's chance in a barn fire to get elected.
His nature was clear to all except the "beautiful people" who looked
at his trappings and not his deeds.
Going Going Gone!

[mikefina]

Indeed. He is a shiny-object, not dissimilar from the current denzien of 1600 Penna. Ave.

[SFBunkSurf]

And what's up with that toxic flammable hairdo? He needs a stylist more than a career in politics...

[MMLJ]

Is that Mathew McConaughey?

Why do people vote for these schmucks?

[Trizah7]

I wondered why he had a shirt on :(

[gobarackgo]

I thought it was Christian Bale. Same maturity level.

[SiberianRat]

I'm not intimately familiar with his politics/performance since I don't live anywhere near SF, but the few interviews I saw with him gave me a much more of a positive impression than many here, from CA, seem to have. That said, the segment seemed a little gotcha-ish to me. I know that's the norm now, but just straight-up news, interviews, etc. would be much better, IMO.

[SFBunkSurf]

Yeah, good point. I'm from the City and Gavin is a good liberal to the bone, but as a politician I find him lacking in leadership qualities. He's also been a loose cannon at times. While I applauded his progressive attitude toward gay marriage, the way he decided to go about it riled the conservative base big time. He helped prop. 8 passed partially due to an ad ran over and over and over with Gaving saying at a gay marriage rally "Whether you like it or not.....here we are!" I wanted to choke him for that....

[scotia626]

i think he is drinking again

[kcflood]

The reporter seems like a tool just trying to boost ratings

[contradiction]

It reminded me of all those talks from my mother, "Where were you?", "Why didn't show at your cousins baseball game?", yadda yadda.

[up420oz]

This is no longer the BUSH adm idea of how interviews are done.

Reporters are finally figuring this out.
No longer are politicians alowed to skate on their conduct, lack of knowledge or morals.

Look at the faux interview with PRESIDENT B.H. Obama, and thats how all interviews should be done.

We liberals can handel it, but cons think their guys are still not accountable.

[scottfrommodesto]

If you broadcast something someone says after they say "off the record" you're trash.

[TheWanderer]

Wrong. Newsom agreed to the interview. he is a public figure who vanished during the citiy's major budget crisis and refuses to talk about, or to meet with the press (until this interview). Just saying "this is off the record" in the middle of an interview that is being televised doesn't make it off the record. You want to speak off the record, you wait until the cameras stop running, and you don't shout it out across the room.

Newsom is a spoiled brat who had the office bought for him by his sugar daddy Gordon Getty. He's a classless excuse for a mayor, he's ineffective in his job, he avoids the press, he ignores sunshine laws, he refuses to abide by majority decisions made by the board of supervisors.

[SFBunkSurf]

Hank Plante explained that on the night it broadcast... When someone says, "this is off the record" then it is protocol for the reporter to then agree and then they speak off the record. You don't just declare "this is off the record" it has to be agreed upon. Plus, the mayor saw clearly that all of the cameras were running. Aside from all of that, I didn't vote for him and have never thought he was a very good mayor for San Francisco.