Trump roasts Newsom with 'Newscum' jab, calls Schumer a 'proud Palestinian' in WHCD speech

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump used his remarks at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner on Friday, July 24, to unleash a string of attacks on two of the Democratic Party's most prominent figures, reviving his longtime "Newscum" nickname for California Gov Gavin Newsom and mocking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as having "turned Palestinian."

In his hour-long speech, Trump also praised some journalists, took potshots at others, made jokes about public figures' weight and intellect, and quipped about a new presidential term.

Trump takes multiple jabs at Gavin Newsom

Trump opened on Newsom by needling him for skipping the event. "I was disappointed that Gavin Newscum didn't show up," he said.

"I heard that he recently said that we will lose our country if we don't fight fire with fire. And to be fair, there's only one thing we know about Gavin, and that is he doesn't want to fight fire with water. He's got a lot of water, and he never wants to use it," the 80-year-old added. 

Trump went on to reference a recent Newsom interview he called disastrous, saying, "This is the worst interview I've ever seen given by a professional politician," and claimed he'd put out a statement suggesting Newsom would never run for president because "nobody can say what he said about himself and survive."

He also brought up the California governor's past comment that former Vice President Kamala Harris was smarter than him, arguing, "If Kamala is smarter than someone, you don't want that person to be president of the United States of America."

Trump accuses Chuck Schumer of abandoning Israel

Trump then turned his focus to Schumer, accusing the New York Democrat of shifting his longtime pro-Israel stance.

"Chuck Schumer wanted to join us tonight, but he didn't want to be violating many parts of the Palestinian rules, regulations, and certainly he didn't want to violate Sharia law," Trump said, before adding, "He turned Palestinian!"

The Republican leader argued Schumer had once been a staunch Israel ally, invoking his emotional 2017 airport remarks opposing Trump's first-term travel ban.

"This was a man who was 100% for Israel," Trump said. "Remember he cried at the airport over illegal immigrants. They were the fakest tears that people throw water in his face, but now he's a proud, very proud Palestinian!"

Trump capped the bit by saying he planned to send Schumer a "beautiful Palestinian outfit" so he could "greet Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to town next week, along with the mayor, who I'm sure would love to meet Bibi," an apparent reference to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The Newsom and Schumer material came amid a wider set of attacks during Trump's remarks that also targeted Rep Ilhan Omar and touched on his usual criticisms of Democratic-led states, including claims about wildfire policy and homelessness in California.