Fox News host Jesse Watters reportedly reignited scrutiny of California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday night, resurfacing a video of the Democrat colliding with a child during a basketball game on his 2023 trip to Beijing.
The clip, Watters suggested, underscored questions about Newsom’s fitness as Democrats quietly eye him as a potential 2028 presidential contender.
“Maybe Newsom should try the Pete-Bobby challenge: 100 push-ups, 50 pull-ups in 10 minutes,” Watters said on Jesse Watters Primetime. “Let’s see what he’s got, ’cause last time we looked he was knocking down Chinese kids like bowling pins.”
Watters then played the footage, which shows the governor losing his footing, toppling into a young player, and falling to the ground. Newsom, attempting to make light of the incident at the time, joked: “I gotta work up my balance. Tell everyone I didn’t miss a shot.”
For Watters, the moment was emblematic of what he sees as Newsom’s political shortcomings. “Kind of had a nice handle on it,” Watters quipped after airing the clip. “The difference is Trump writes his own tweets. Gavin can’t even get it up himself.”
The resurfaced video comes as national Democrats continue to position Newsom as a rising figure in their party.
He has sought to boost his profile with high-visibility appearances, including international trips such as the Beijing visit, while also playing the role of chief defender of progressive policies in California.
But the Fox News segment highlighted the governor’s challenges in shedding a polished, sometimes scripted image that critics argue lacks authenticity when compared with the blunt, unfiltered style of President Donald J. Trump.
Newsom is not the only politician to have found himself in hot water after inadvertently bowling over a child during a publicity event.
In 2015, Boris Johnson — who would later serve as Britain’s prime minister — tackled a 10-year-old Japanese boy while playing soccer during a diplomatic visit.
The collision left the child reportedly in pain, and Johnson quickly apologized. “I’m so sorry,” the then-London mayor said, acknowledging his own role as a “way overweight” participant in the match. The boy, brushing off the incident, told reporters, “I felt a little bit of pain but it’s OK.”
Unlike Johnson, who made amends swiftly, Newsom’s offhand comments at the time did little to dispel the awkward optics of a sitting governor flattening a young boy on foreign soil.
Watters’ decision to highlight the incident a year later suggests Republicans believe the image of Newsom stumbling — literally and politically — could stick.
For conservatives, the Beijing clip offers more than comic relief. It dovetails with longstanding critiques of California’s governor: that behind the slick presentation lies a politician whose balance, both on the court and in governance, is less than steady.
As Watters put it, when comparing Newsom to his party’s rivals, the question is not just whether he can take a shot, but whether he can stand on his own feet.
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