'Self-awareness...is off the charts': Gavin Newsom mocks Trump's claim of 'mentally sick' criminals

California Governor Gavin Newsom took a sly jab at President Donald Trump after the latter said during a press interaction that more than 90% of the crimes committed in Washington, D.C. were perpetrated by "career criminals" with "mental problems." Newsom's press office shared the post on X and sarcastically applauded the President's self-awareness. "Wow, the self-awareness here is off the charts," the post read. Before making that comment, President Trump claimed that crime in the capital was like the "wild west."

“They used to go in and rob the restaurants...It was like the old Wild West. They'd say, 'Stick 'em up, give me your money.' The whole restaurant is handing them money. And now, if that ever happened, those people would be in deep trouble...We hit them very hard," he said as per a report in The Daily Beast. The report also states that Trump himself was the first felon to be elected president, as he was convicted of several crimes leading up to his re-election.

As far as "mental problems" are concerned, Trump has long bragged that he had taken more cognitive tests than any President in history and aced them all. However, his recent comments during a state visit to Turkey sparked concerns about the President's mental well-being. He mistakenly said that the "Islamic Republic of Japan" launched hundreds of missiles at an American aircraft carrier, misspelled the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Tehran, and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "President Putin."

It is no secret that the relationship between Newsom and Trump is far from amicable. The U.S. President has repeatedly taken shots at the California Governor, and even claimed that there was the occurrence of voter fraud in his state without providing ample evidence. Newsom, for his part, has never shied away from hitting back at Trump. Recently, he announced that anyone attempting to tamper with the state's election procedures would be prosecuted, even if they were under orders from the President.

"New legislation that would make it a felony to seize ballots before the vote has been certified by state and county officials. We will be the wall he (Trump) cannot get past because we believe that once an election is decided, the winner governs for everyone. That's the architecture of American liberty. Donald Trump? He doesn't believe in that architecture," he said. The President has a history of crying foul over elections, like he did when the results of the previous presidential vote were revealed.

Republicans have slammed the legislation, calling for more urgency to pass the SAVE America Act. "Gavin Newsom clearly doesn't want anybody getting in the way of the grift. We already saw what they're "protecting" in the LA County elections," Sen. Rick Scott wrote in a post on X.