California Governor Gavin Newsom has sparked amusement and critique due to his “bizarre” and overly animated hand gestures during a segment on ABC News.
Viewers were perplexed by Newsom’s dramatic expressions, with some speculating whether he might be attempting to use sign language.
Newsom, 58, sat down with ABC News for an all-encompassing interview to discuss things from Zohran Mamdani’s potential win for NYC mayor to his thoughts on President Donald Trump having a third term.
During his conversation with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Newsom animatedly remarked, “I hope we’re absorbing in our souls – because we’re talking about the soul of America – I don’t think he takes himself seriously,” all while his hands moved vigorously.
His unusual display led to a wave of online mockery, with numerous spectators suggesting the politician’s exaggerated body language was an effort to appear sincere.
One user took to X to comment, “Someone told @GavinNewsom that hand gestures imply honesty and authenticity. True. But he overacts so much he’s obviously overcompensating. Just BE genuine, then you don’t have to pretend. But Gavin has no clue how to do that. Or even what it is.”
Another viewer noted, “Seems to me like it’s an indication that everything he says and does is purely performative.”
Gavin Newsom raised eyebrow with his overly expressive hand gestures during an interview with ABC
Viewers joked that the Democrat looked like he was trying to communicate via sign language
While expressing how he hopes Americans are ‘absorbing’ the information around them, he drew his hands into a backward circle toward his chest in a wave-like movement.
He went on to say that Trump ‘iterates’ and ‘throws things out there’ while sweeping his own hands back and forth.
‘He sees how people react and it manifests. Meaning once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form,’ he said.
But it appears that any potential attempt at conveying authenticity may have backfired.
‘So in my life time anytime someone talked with their hands like that, are never to be trusted,’ one person wrote on X.
‘People that move their hands that much when they talk are known liars, it’s a fact,’ another added.
Viewers also complained they were distracted by the governor’s hands throughout the 27-minute interview.
One person wrote on X: ‘Gavin looks like the sign language interpreter the State of California uses on TV off to the side every time they hold a press conference!’
Another agreed, writing: ‘Let’s just call it Caveman Sign Language. It’s the very, very early development of sign language.’
A third jokingly asked Grok, X’s AI chatbot: ‘Please interpret these hand gestures in American Sign Language and transcribe. Ignore the audio.’
One man said he had to ‘convince my wife that Gavin Newsom was not doing sign language in this video.’
Another X user jokingly asked if there was ‘hand-Tourette disorder.’ Tourette’s Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes involuntary movements and vocalizations.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Governor’s Office for comment.
World leaders are often having their every movement analyzed and don’t want to come across as cold or analytical. Therefore, politicians use body language to create a connection to their constituents.
Many of the gestures used by Newsom in the interview were illustrative in an attempt to be used to physical paint the picture.
This isn’t the first time Newsom’s body language has been questioned.
Newsom has ramped up his interviews of late amid mounting speculation he is vying for the White House in 2028
While during a press conference for the California wildfires in January, he was see shimming his shoulders while talking about speaking with the Hawaii governor.
Traci Brown, a body language analyst, speculated his moving shoulders was an illustrative gesture to show how he was going to go through obstacle to get to the end result.
Other politicians, like Trump, have recognizable gestures that are personal to them. For example, Trump has a recognizable shrug when he doesn’t have an answer. His body is giving an answer without him needing to use words, Psychology Today said.
Newsom’s body language has come under more scrutiny lately as he has been making a wide number of public appearances lately after announcing he is vying for a presidential campaign in 2028.
He has also been making headlines for poking fun at Trump and mimicking the president’s style of online communication to criticize him.
When a CBS reporter asked him if he’d give ‘serious thought’ to a presidential run after the midterms in 2026, he said: ‘Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying. And I can’t do that.’
It is the clearest indication thus far that the firebrand Democrat, and staunch political enemy of the Trump administration, has his eyes on the Oval Office in 2028.
Newsom has also sued the Trump Administration for illegally deploying the National Guard to Portland, Oregon – a hotspot for the president’s political ire as American citizens continue to reject his immigration policies.
Many thought the governor was using a form of sign language while speaking, but he was not
He said: ‘We’re suing Donald Trump. His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime.
He said: ‘We’re suing Donald Trump. His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime.
‘It’s about power. He is using our military as political pawns to build up his own ego. It’s appalling. It’s un-American. And it must stop.’
The president deployed 300 personnel from California into the city after a federal district court blocked his attempt to federalize Oregon’s own National Guard.
