Gavin Newsom did not appreciate Elizabeth Warren's 'wine cave' swipe at Pete Buttigieg

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg listens during a Democratic presidential primary debate Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, in Los Angeles. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg listens during a Democratic presidential primary debate Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, in Los Angeles. Photo: Chris Carlson, Associated Press Photo: Chris Carlson, Associated Press Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Gavin Newsom did not appreciate Elizabeth Warren's 'wine cave' swipe at Pete Buttigieg 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

California Governor Gavin Newsom came to the defense of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his recent Napa "wine cave" fundraiser after the 2020 presidential hopeful was attacked by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the sixth Democratic presidential debate Thursday night.

Warren criticized Buttigieg for his Sunday night fundraiser at Hall Wines in St. Helena, which was attended by several wealthy Bay Area Democrats.

“We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States,” she said. “Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the president of the United States.”

Buttigieg responded by stating he was the only person on the debate stage who is not a millionaire or billionaire, and criticized Warren for her own large donations.

"This is the problem with issuing purity tests you yourself cannot pass," he told her.

Wine Cave 2020 #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/Q7tjf36wq2 — Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) December 20, 2019 .@GavinNewsom quite comfortable chatting with the press for a long time in the spin room, defends Buttigieg #winecave fundraiser and says the Pete bashing over it and purity tests aren’t really helping the party #DemDebate + in California you gotta support the wine industry pic.twitter.com/Y1Ce9N4jxr — Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) December 20, 2019

The mayor gained a defender after the debate in Gavin Newsom, whose business empire included a number of wineries.

"It’s my business, it’s how I started,” he told HuffPost after the debate. “It’s a point of pride. It’s one of America’s great exports. I don’t know that it’s helpful to have those kinds of debates.”

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Newsom also bemoaned the "purity tests" imposed by progressives that Buttigieg referenced.

"That cave’s been used by Democrats all across the country for fundraising ... Probably a hundred congressional representatives have benefited from the use of that," he later told reporters. "I don’t know that this is healthy. Democrats are good at begrudging people ... I don’t know why someone that’s had success should apologize for it, or be embarrassed by it, or now no longer be allowed to participate in the democratic process."

Newsom endorsed Sen. Kamala Harris before she dropped out of the race. He has yet to make a new endorsement.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting