Gavin Newsom:

Candidate for governor uses insult to raise money.

Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to show Wednesday that there’s value in being called “an embarrassment” by the nation’s top law enforcement officer. At least, he hopes there might be in liberal California.

During a speech Wednesday to a law enforcement organization in Sacramento, Attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to Newsom — without naming him — as “an embarrassment for the great state of California” for “bragging about the obstruction of law enforcement.”

Sessions was referring to Newsom praising Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf when she warned last month of impending federal immigration sweeps.

The Newsom campaign wasted no time sending out an email in response — fundraising pitch included — with the subject line “Jeff Sessions just called me ‘an embarrassment.’ ”

“Coming from a man whose legacy is targeting immigrants, re-waging the failed War on Drugs, sucking up to private prison profiteers and apologizing for white supremacists ... I take that as a huge compliment. If I’m on Jeff Sessions’ bad side, I must be doing some things right.”

Then, after a few promises about what Newsom would do as governor, came the extended hand, palm facing upward: “Help me win this election so we can move CA forward, no matter how much Sessions wants to drag us back — let’s hit 5,000 donations in the next 24 hours.”

Or else perhaps risk a fundraising embarrassment.