California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a strange new “crushed” controversy after a weird picture of the 2028 presidential hopeful went viral.
It comes just days after actress Halle Berry delivered a sharp rebuke of Newsom, declaring the governor “probably should not be our next president.”
“Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one but two years in a row,” Berry told the audience. “But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever, and the way he has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying.”
Berry’s comments, which drew gasps from the summit audience, came hours before Newsom himself took the stage at the same event.
Newsom’s appearance also generated attention on social media for another reason. During his interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, the governor sat in an unusually tight, cross-legged pose that viewers online labeled “painful to watch.”
Photos of Newsom quickly went viral.
Take a look —
I have never seen a man crush his testicles harder than this dude. pic.twitter.com/rey7LBeSOa
— BORED (@BoredElonMusk) December 4, 2025
Crushed doesn’t even begin to explain what it’s like living in California, of course.
An April 2024 audit found the state spent $24 billion of taxpayer money on homelessness in five years but didn’t bother to track outcomes. The audit analyzed five programs that received a stunning $13.7 billion in funding and determined only two are “likely cost-effective.”
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which oversees homelessness programs, hasn’t tracked spending or progress since June 2021, according to the audit.
The council has no consistent method to collect outcome data for these programs and doesn’t bother verify the accuracy of info submitted to them.
“California is facing a concerning paradox: despite an exorbitant amount of dollars spent, the state’s homeless population is not slowing down,” Republican state Sen. Roger Niello recently said in a statement. “These audit results are a wake-up call for a shift toward solutions that prioritize self-sufficiency and cost effectiveness.”
Despite the massive spending, the amount of California homeless has approached 200,000 in the latest count. The state is home to a quarter of the nation’s homeless population.
Newsom has blamed local officials, almost all Democrats, for the crisis.
“Time to do your job. People are dying on their watch – dying on their watch. How do people get reelected? Look at these encampments. They’re a disgrace,” he said recently. “They’ve been there years and years and years and years. I’ve heard that same rhetoric for years.”
On crime, Newsom has faced criticism for his support of Proposition 47. The law, passed in 2014, reduced most theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and was blamed by law enforcement, business groups, and prosecutors for California’s exploding crime problems.
Proposition 36, which rolled back 47, appeared on the November 2024 ballot and passed overwhelmingly with 71% voter support, despite Newsom’s opposition
The Reform California organization compiled what it called a “Top 10 List of Frauds and Failures of California Governor Gavin Newsom,” and called California’s highest cost-of-living burden in the country Newsom’s biggest failure.
The organization’s report in 2024 found living in the state costs over $26,000 to middle class families compared to the national average.
California has the most expensive gasoline and diesel fuel in the nation, with regular gasoline prices over $4.60 an average per gallon as of November, more than 50% higher than the national average closer to $3.00 per gallon, according to an analysis by CFACT.
Newsom, who has served as California’s governor since 2019, said in November he will give consideration to a 2028 presidential run.
Really, the viral photo of Newsom “crushing” himself is the perfect metaphoa… because America can’t afford to be crushed by a Newsom presidency.