Gavin Newsom Takes Apart Sean Hannity's Criticisms of Biden

Gavin Newsom has clashed with Sean Hannity over President Biden's record in office. The heated exchange was widely shared on social media including by the California governor himself.

The confrontation was part of a wide-ranging interview for Hannity's Fox News show on Monday. Newsom said Biden has created "13.1 million jobs" while Donald Trump "lost 2.6 million jobs during his four years."

Polling indicates Biden and Trump are the leading contenders to secure the 2024 presidential nomination of their respective parties, potentially setting up a rematch of the 2020 election. Should this happen, the two men's respective economic records are likely to come under intense scrutiny from pundits and the public alike.

Appearing on Hannity, Newsom said: "I have great confidence in our president and I have great confidence in his leadership."

The conservative host replied, "I think his policies are failing," later adding: "On every measure from the economy, inflation, borders, energy, national security, he's missing in action."

Newsom said: "Let's talk about them in order. I want to challenge the premise. You said the economy? 13.1 million jobs he's created."

After Hannity described this as an "artificial number" based on "Covid jobs," the California governor said: "Then let me stipulate this, as an opportunity to engage civilly on this. Your president, Donald Trump, lost 2.6 million jobs during his four years. We created 13.1 million. Fine, you can maintain a Covid frame. How about the fact Joe Biden's created more jobs, six times more jobs, than the previous three Republican presidents combined."

Newsom appears to be referring to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, for May. It stated that 13.1 million new jobs had been created "since President Biden took office."

Employment fell three million, from 145.6 million to 142.6 million, according to the Bureau of Labor during Trump's time in office, though this was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bureau figures show 1.3 million jobs were created during George W. Bush's two terms, while his father George H.W. Bush boosted employment by 2.6 million jobs from 1989 to 1993.

A clip of the exchange was shared on Twitter by the Acyn account, which posts footage of prominent political interviews and events. It has received more than 1.7 million views and was widely shared.

Newsom himself quote-tweeted the clip, adding: "Here is a fact that the GOP doesn't want you to know: President Biden has created more jobs than the last 3 Republican presidents COMBINED."

Newsweek has contacted Hannity for comment, via an email sent to the Fox News communications team.

Earlier this month, Newsom proposed introducing a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution focused on gun safety measures. This would introduce a "reasonable waiting period" for all firearms purchases and ban the sale of assault weapons to civilians.