Gavin Newsom Trolls Both Fox News and Trump in One Sentence
The cable network lost the president’s speech.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has skewered President Donald Trump and his preferred cable network Fox News in one succinct sentence.
On Tuesday, Trump, 79, headed to Clive, Iowa to brag about his economic success during his second term as president and distract from the controversy surrounding two deaths at the hands of federal agents this month in Minnesota.
Newsom’s Press Office account on X, which regularly trolls the president, shared an unfortunate clip from Fox News’s The Five interrupting their regular panel show to cover Trump’s speech live.

Fox News lose Donald Trump's speech from Iowa.
screen grab
At 12 minutes into their coverage of Trump’s speech the footage suddenly cut out, replaced by a colorful test pattern and a loud buzz.
“The production quality is just like Trump’s leadership quality—s--tty," the press office wrote of the glitch.
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The Beast understands that the glitchy feed came from a CBS pool, and that other networks experienced the same problem.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and CBS for comment. Fox News did not comment on the story.
After it returned, host Dana Perino then abruptly cut the feed from Trump, blaming a “minor technical difficulty” for the mishap, and jettisoning their coverage of the president, who was continuing his speech.
The Five panel then shared their input on Trump’s familiar talking points. Perino also gushed, “It’s the middle of the day on a Tuesday in Iowa and he is able to pull a crowd like that.” Not all the panelists on The Five were impressed with Trump’s Iowa speech, however.

U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage to speak during a rally at the Horizon Events Center on January 27, 2026 in Clive, Iowa.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Harold Ford Jr., a former Democratic U.S. Congressman, said he “liked” Trump but suggested he was still “getting a little rust” off his speech game as he prepared for the midterm elections.
“You talk about the future when you’re talking about elections going forward,” Ford Jr. said. “Reminding people what happened in 2024 and how they won is fine for a few minutes, but I didn’t hear anything about the cost of living in Iowa in there. He picked Iowa because of the farmers. I haven’t heard anything about the farmers... I’d be talking about lifting tariffs.”
Ford Jr. suggested Trump should be telling voters about all the jobs he plans to create using AI technology.
“You don’t win future elections with the old technology. No one goes to the store saying I want an iPhone X. They want a new stuff.”
He even suggested a potential opening for a Democrat running against Trump. “If you talk about impeaching him, you are not going to win. If you’re gonna talk about the past, you are not going to win. If you’re gonna talk how we’re going to make people’s lives better, that’s how you win elections.”
During his Iowa speech, Trump repeated his usual talking points of America being “the number one country anywhere in history” and how the country was a “joke” before his presidency.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks on the economy in Clive, Iowa, on January 27, 2026.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
CNN’s data expert Harry Enten said Trump deliberately chose Iowa for his rally to try and reverse his sinking poll numbers on the economy and immigration.
He cited data that showed Trump now polling at -20 on the economy, which is worse than Joe Biden a year into his presidency.
“You know, why is Donald Trump going into Iowa right now?” he continued. “It is because of this: The Trump administration is focusing too little on lowering prices. The vast majority, 3 in 4 Americans, say he‘s focusing too little on lowering prices. That‘s why he‘s going into Iowa.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to make clear that CBS provided the pooled feed.
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