Axelrod jabs Newsom: "Haven't we seen enough self-puffery?"

Longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who guided Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, has some sharp critiques of Gavin Newsom as the California governor prepares for a potential White House run.

• "Haven't we seen enough self-puffery in our leaders?" Axelrod posted on X this week as Newsom boasted in Davos about standing up to President Trump. "This, 'Why can't people just be as courageous as ME?' routine is tedious."

Why it matters: Axelrod has a hard-earned reputation for saying out loud what many Democrats are saying privately.

Driving the news: It's not the first time he's poked a jab at Newsom, a frontrunner in early polls of potential 2028 Democratic contenders.

• When Newsom — who has long been at the vanguard of advocating for LGBTQ people — said last year that allowing transgender women in women's sports presented "an issue of fairness" to other athletes, Axelrod told CNN: "If I were giving the governor advice, I'd say, 'You know, don't be so overt that people can see the wheels turning.' "
• "The obvious question would be: 'Well, you've been governor of California for six years, you were lieutenant governor for many years before that, when did you have this epiphany?' And the answer is, when he found that the Republicans could weaponize the issue," Axelrod said then.

Axelrod told Axios: "Newsom is enormously talented. He did a gutsy thing in responding to Trump's redistricting ploy," referring to the successful ballot measure in California that could add up to five Democratic seats in Congress in the midterms.

• But Axelrod added: "Authenticity is an essential quality in any presidential candidate. And after Trump, I believe humility will be, too."
• A spokesperson for Newsom declined to comment.

Flashback: Axelrod has long gotten under the skin of prominent Democrats by speaking his mind rather than reflexively defending party leaders.

• In June 2022, he sent the Biden White House into a fit when he suggested the president was too old to run for reelection (Biden later called him a "prick," Politico reported).

• "The presidency is a monstrously taxing job, and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue," Axelrod told the New York Times then.

In 2015 and 2016, Axelrod's commentary angered some Hillary Clinton staffers.

• He said she didn't have a good answer for not releasing transcripts of her paid speeches to global elites, and that the Democratic National Committee was putting its "finger on the scale" to help her against Bernie Sanders in the primary.
• Axelrod also said Clinton's "grinding, tactical" campaign made it "hard to inspire" voters. "'Hillary: Live With It' is no rallying cry," Axelrod said.
• After Clinton lost to Trump, many of her supporters acknowledged he had been right in his 2016 analysis — even if they didn't like hearing it at the time.