Overview
- Images of California Gov. Gavin Newsom seated with an unusually tight leg cross at the New York Times DealBook Summit spread widely on social media.
- Users shared screenshots and photoshopped images exaggerating the pose, turning it into a running online joke.
- Right-leaning outlets and commentators described the posture in gendered terms, calling it a “crotch clench” or “testicle-crushing.”
- Newsom’s office tried to defuse the ridicule by posting its own photoshopped image with the caption, “Democracy requires flexibility.”
- Coverage noted the attention eclipsed parts of his discussion, including remarks about National Guard policies during the Trump administration, with no broader policy fallout reported.