Gavin Newsom's Switch Up
The California governor, long seen as a LGBTQ ally, sparked fury when he platformed noted right wing influencer Charlie Kirk and "completely aligned" with Republican anti-trans rhetoric.
California Governor Gavin Newsom just launched a new podcast entitled, “This is Gavin Newsom”, where he talks to all different kinds of people he disagrees with, trying to “change the conversation” as he puts it. (Hey Gavin, that is a basic title for a podcast, but hey, what do I know?)
And in his debut episode of the podcast, he brings on Charlie f***ing Kirk.
I shouldnt have to explain who the absolute stain known as Charlie Kirk is. He’s cut from Trump’s same cloth. Transphobic, hateful, and racist.
But onto the interview. Apparently, according to Charlie Kirk, him and Gov. Newsom had a lovely chat and one of the things brought up were trans athletes.
Now, quick aside, I find it ironic that Gavin Newsom, the man who has been the subject of conspiracy theories, is now hosting a right wing advocate, having tea and crumpets with him, but that’s besides the point.
Do keep in mind, that Cali is trying to position itself as a trans sanctuary state for trans youth and their parents. So, having your governor bring on a noted transphobe onto his podcast isn’t a very good look for that reputation. And this is the same man who’s eyeing 1600 Pennsylvania in 2028.
Anyways, lets get to it.
Gov. Newsom starts regurgitating Republican talking points and lambasting his own party for allowing trans women athletes, citing fairness:
Again, this is ironic, considering that, Newsom is the governor of a state with a LGBTQ+ population percentage of 5.5%, which would average out to around 1.5 million, according to recent data from the UCLA Williams Institute, and he is regurgitating the false lie that trans women are supposedly making women’s sports unfair, because they are biologically overpowered, which they aren’t. And then, Newsom further goes on and agrees with him that a majority of the country agrees with anti trans sports laws. The data from Gallup back in May of ‘23 sets this percentage at 69%, for those wondering.
He goes on, further eating the Gomu-Gomu no MAGA fruit and calling the parade of anti trans ads that the Trump campaign ran in the leadup to November 5th a “brilliant campaign ad”.
Holy cow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that blatant of a switch up, that quick. Newsom is essentially licking the Trump boot here at this point. But it gets worse. Kirk then says that Democrats should welcome anti-abortion Dems into the party, an idea which goes completely counter to the party’s ideals. Kirk also goes on and said that the party was too fixated on an unhealthy purity process, saying:
with Newsom agreeing saying:
"There should be," Newsom responded. "On principle, there should be. Absolutely. That's a deeply-held personal point of view, god bless. And I say this as one of the biggest champions for reproductive freedoms on the planet."
This entire podcast episode just reeks. With Newsom playing the fairness card and stabbing citizens of his own state in the back, by not only platforming Charlie Kirk, who is a known bigot, and gleefully taking a picture with him, but by also regurgitating Republican talking points.
Talking points, which have been proven to be false. Which leads me to think that Gov. Newsom believed in these things the whole time, just didn’t feel like publicly expressing this. And that also leads to the problem of giving Establishment Democrats their own podcasts, especially the ones on the older side, like Newsom.
Thankfully, he is getting tomatoes thrown at him for this, and rightfully so. After framing yourself for years as a protector of queer rights, and even declaring your own state a sanctuary city for trans youth and their families, suddenly just platforming a bigoted MAGA talking piece is going to get you some well deserved fury.
Equality California, a queer rights group in the state, rebuked Gov. Newsom’s remarks, with their executive director, Tony Hoang saying:
and having State Senators Caroline Menjivar and Chris Ward, the heads of the states LGBTQ caucus, say this via the Associated Press:
“Sometimes Gavin Newsom goes for the Profile in Courage, sometimes not. We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks.”
Gavin Newsom’s office actually tried to do damage control, with them putting out a statement saying that they reject the right trying to spin this and use it attack trans kids. Valiant effort, but it just comes off as ingenuine and fake.
If you really did, then you, being on Gov. Newsom’s advisor team, could have vetted Charlie Kirk and told him to not invite him because he’s a massive bigot. Now, whether that actually happened remains to be seen, but it doesn’t look like it does, since this happened, without input from any of his advisors, it seems. And, throughout the entire interview (at least the parts I’ve watched, I’m not watching 71 minutes of this right wing slop) Newsom was gleeful, at points, which makes me wonder any vetting was done.
Did Newsom know who Charlie Kirk was? Seems like it, with him saying how much of a fan his 13 year old child is.
Anyways, wrapping up. What Gavin Newsom did is just betray the entire LGBTQ community in not just his state, but the US, if were being honest. Platforming Charlie Kirk, the same man who said that there is a “LGBTQ agenda” (there isn’t, by the way) on a podcast with the governor of a queer sanctuary state.
No amount of PR damage control can fix the betrayal that Gavin Newsom committed with that interview.