Telling a reporter to “F” off? Newsom spokesman cheapens governor’s office | Opinion

Taxpayer-funded spokespeople shouldn’t tell journalists to “F” off, nor should they be in the business of deciding who is and who isn’t a real reporter.

That should be obvious. But apparently, it’s not.

This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson Izzy Gardon, used that vulgar language towards RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree when she asked for documentation about Newsom’s dyslexia diagnosis.

The question seems fair game. The governor is literally an open book on this subject, detailing battles with this disorder since his childhood in his memoir. A journalist wanting to verify a condition that Newsom is discussing publicly isn’t crossing some privacy boundary. But Gardon saw this differently, and profanely.

“Hey, Susan — thanks for reaching out. Respectfully, f**k off,” Gardon wrote in an email reply. He later attacked her on X as a conspiracy theorist with “peak crazy lady energy.”

The response, posted on X by Crabtree and confirmed by Gardon, came after Crabtree asked for any kind of paperwork or evidence of a diagnosis. She asked in a professional tone and the question, while sensitive, was fair.

Newsom has even written a book for kids on the subject. Crabtree, or any reporter fact-checking his claim, is a routine act of journalism.

As the old journalistic saying goes: If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.

Crabtree did not accuse Newsom of making it up. The beauty of asking for proof of claims is that a journalist doesn’t have to make that determination. The proof is what it is.

Not every political figure tells the truth, believe it or not. Why did Sen. Cory Booker, for example, allegedly invent an acquaintance named “T-Bone” as part of his story? Didn’t we just suffer four years of not enough journalists asking questions about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness?

How much personal health information should presidential candidates divulge has been a longstanding debate. Many have chosen transparency, while others have not (often to the detriment of the office). Candidates have also disclosed military records and tax returns.

This is nothing new.

Newsom has been unofficially running for president for what now seems like an eternity, but each month he seems closer to officially announcing. If and when he does, he should expect lots of questions like this and many others.

Newsom has often sought extremely friendly interviews with the national press, usually instead of talking to California reporters, and he has had a historically combative relationship with reporters asking questions he didn’t like.

As San Francisco mayor, he didn’t like questions about his drinking, or about the city’s emergency preparedness. His former press secretary was found to have been using online aliases to attack reporters.

Newsom’s staff has faced allegations of harassing journalists asking tough questions and giving preferential treatment to those deemed friendly. And even recently his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, criticized a group of reporters for asking questions she didn’t like.

Team Newsom’s famously thin skin is only going to hurt him as he seeks more attention nationally.

Good communications work lifts the client. But repeatedly Gardon has made himself the story.

Gardon could have ignored Crabtree or refused to answer her question in a more appropriate way; making her a martyr was obviously a mistake.

This kind of conduct is disrespectful to the governor’s office. It’s clear the governor doesn’t care, since he obviously gave Gardon the green light. But many Californians do care.

Trump’s public conduct, especially towards journalists, is often abhorrent, as is that of his team. It’s hard to make the case that mimicking that is somehow morally righteous.

Abusing hard-working journalists is wrong, no matter who is doing it. But unless other journalists and press clubs call out Team Newsom’s behavior, it’s unlikely to stop.

Matt Fleming is a special correspondent for McClatchy Media. Follow him on X at @flemingwords or email him at flemingwords@gmail.com.

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Telling a reporter to “F” off? Newsom spokesman cheapens governor’s office | Opinion."