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Gavin Newsom's Response to Murder of Israeli Embassy Staffers Sure Raises Questions About His Party

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 22, 2025 8:15 PM

As Townhall has been covering, two Israeli embassy staffers were murdered after attending an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. A suspect, Elias Rodriguez, was arrested at the scene and has already been charged. Rodriguez, according to witnesses, was yelling "Free Palestine" and had a keffiyeh. The Trump administration was quick to respond about the situation, but responses from Democrats in Congress and those serving as governors--especially California's Gavin Newsom who is term-limited and may run for president--raise some key questions about the party and the handling of antisemitism and deadly violence from pro-Hamas figures.

From his official X account early on Thursday morning (still Wednesday night on the West Coast), Newsom condemned the tragic murders. "Horrified by the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.," he wrote in a quoted repost of reporting from The New York Times. "Antisemitism has no place in the U.S. or anywhere — it must be condemned in the strongest terms," he added.

Newsom has a point about antisemitism, but it's rather curious hearing it come from a Democratic governor, whose state has been rocked by antisemitism, perhaps most notably from its universities, including and especially at the University of California - Los Angeles, which is even facing lawsuits for antisemitism. 

Newsom hasn't quite been ratioed for such a post at this time on Thursday night, though he's come close to it. Many of the replies and quoted reposts have called him and his party out.

Tellingly, there's no such post from Newsom's political account, which is mostly promoting his podcast, which polling shows could actually be an impediment to him running for president, and going after the "big, beautiful bill" that passed the House on Thursday morning. 

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Newsom's post isn't the only one deserving of ire here, either. The New York Times has also come under fire for an update highlighting questions about a motive, despite how Rodriguez targeted victims attending an event at a Jewish museum, yelled "Free Palestine," and had a keffiyeh. 

He also said that "I did it," expressing "for Palestine" and "for Gaza" as his motivation, according to the affidavit from earlier on Thursday. 

Newsom himself may have put out such a post, but he also comes from the same political party as the Squad members. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), as Madeline highlighted earlier, deserves special mention given that she told a reporter that she was "going to go for now" rather than provide a response. 

She later posted a paltry, generic post to her official account, sharing sentiments she could have easily shared when approached by the reporter. 

Another Squad member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who may also be seeking higher office when it comes to challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for a 2028 primary or perhaps even a run for president herself, fell into a similar trap that Newsom did. While she expressed her condolences and outrage about the attack, many reminded her--not only with replies and quoted reposts--but also screenshots, how she has advocated for the pro-Hamas cause. 

AOC has also been particularly outspoken about her views against Israel and lamentations of Gaza after Hamas terrorists attacked our ally in the Middle East on October 7, 2023. 

The X accounts for both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris have both reacted to the tragic shooting. During their administration, however, Biden, who claimed to be pro-Israel took actions against our ally in the Middle East, including by halting arms shipments last May. 

Biden was also particularly slow on condemning the rampant antisemitism on colleges campuses, and even tried to make it a "both sides" view of the conflict, though that was one more thing his White House gaslit the American people on. Biden also paid particular care and concern for the Gaza region, announcing for his last State of the Union address in March of last year that he had a pier in the region meant to deliver aid. Not only did it fail and cost the American taxpayers $230 million, but we also found out earlier this month that it injured more U.S. servicemembers than we were initially told. 

Harris herself spoke out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks that actually came out of that edited "60 Minutes" interview that now President Donald Trump sued CBS News over. Her attempts to play to both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict were so obvious that even CNN took note and called her out for it, days before the election. Trump even went on to win with a considerable portion of the Jewish vote. 

Then there's how Democrats treat their own, specifically during last year's 2024 election, when Harris replaced Biden as the nominee and was looking for a running mate.

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), like Newsom, may be a potential contender for president in 2028. He was also a serious contender for vice president last year, though, and there were points over the summer when it seemed certain he was Harris' pick. There were reports that his interview didn't turn out so well, and he didn't want to leave the governorship to be number two on the ticket, but there's also how the party's antisemitism no doubt played a factor. So-called progressives encouraged Harris to forgo Shapiro for another candidate, such as Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), which she ultimately did, who was a particularly failed and poorly vetted candidate.  More recently, Shapiro's governor's mansion was targeted by arson for Passover last month.