A verdant Montana stream, two fly rods, and suspenseful music filled CNN’s 11-minute special this week on California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his odds of running for president.
And all Wyoming-based, New York Times bestselling author CJ Box could think when he saw a shorter, standalone clip from the interview was, “Neither one of these guys knows how to cast a fly rod.”
“They’re just throwing a line, as if they were using spinning rods,” said Box in a Wednesday phone interview, after remarking on the video via X.com. Box, 67, said he’s fly-fished for around 30 years.
He added that Newsom and Tapper shouldn’t be casting downstream, fishing shoulder to shoulder, or breaking their wrists with every cast.
“Everything about it is performative and wrong,” he said.
Fly fishing isn’t just whipping the water, but about placing the fly in a specific, tempting area for fish. The idea is to maneuver the fly so the fish sees it before it sees the line, Box said.
Box reflected on 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s staged hunting trip, and the 2024 video of Sen. Chuck Schumer grilling raw meat with the cheese already on it.
Such stagings are from, “usually a politician who wants to prove their manliness,” added Box.
Box knows Wyoming outdoorsmanship.
His Joe Pickett series of books, which chronicles the life of a Wyoming game warden, has sold over 20 million copies.
"Holy Hell"
Noted Wyoming outdoorsman Paul Ulrich had a much stronger reaction to the video.
“Holy hell, that’s quite possibly one of the worst casts I’ve seen in my entire life,” said Ulrich. “The only thing they’re gonna catch with casts like that is perhaps each other, in the face.”
Ulrich urged Tapper and Newsom to learn to fish from a Wyoming guide.
“Do it right instead of embarrassing the entire fly fishing community across the world,” said Ulrich.
This isn't the first time a high-profile public official has caught criticism for his fishing technique.
President Donald Trump's former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made headlines in 2017, for blocking an Outside Magazine reporter from a conference call - after the reporter had remarked that Zinke had rigged his reel backward.
OK, Now Politics
The 11-minute video shows Tapper and Newsom netting a fish.
In a shorter clip from the same interview that CNN featured as a standalone, Newsom said he wouldn’t run for president if former vice president and 2024 candidate Kamala Harris does.
Newsom in the full video discussed his earlier marriage to now-U.S. ambassador Kim Guilfoyle, an affair he had with a married city staffer while mayor, and the painful hindsight from COVID-19.
“That we closed beaches was insane, in hindsight,” said Newsom, adding that he regretted long school closures.
He said he also regrets going out to dinner at the French Laundry restaurant while touting pandemic closure policies.
This summer the U.S. Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into his wife that Newsom calls a political witch hunt.
Tapper noted that prosecutors have applied “novel” ways to prosecute President Donald Trump.
“Look, I understand, from his perspective … giving everyone a taste of their own medicine,” said Newsom of the recurring legal actions Democratic officials have taken against Trump.
Newsom said he values “owning” one’s own excesses.
He also critiqued the Democratic Party as complacent compared to the GOP’s momentum through the late Charlie Kirk.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
