California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who started his personal autopsy after his Democratic Party failed, said this week that the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports was “very unfair.”
Mr Newsom’s comments on why he supported LGBTQ for decades and was one of the first U.S. elected officials to host a same-sex wedding in the United States, representing a significant break from other top Democrats on the issue and demonstrating a new defensive position on the party for trans rights.
As surprising as Mr. Newsom’s remarks are the people he made for them: Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing influencer, is known for starting a pro-Trump organization active on college campuses.
Mr. Newsom invited Mr. Kirk to have a history of inflammation and conspiracy rhetoric, and his new podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” made his debut for 81 minutes of discussion. The governor, who has long been fascinated by the conservative media ecosystem and tried to inject himself into it, explained his impossible guests, “People need to understand your success, your influence, what you do.”
Mr. Newsom is widely regarded as presidential ambitions for 2028, which he joked about in his podcast. He has been one of President Trump’s most fierce Democratic opponents for years, seeing himself as the next generation of liberal fighters of conservative orthodoxy who could lead his party into his post-life era.
But in recent months, he has softened his tone to Mr. Trump and attacked the Democrats’ strategy. In December, Mr. Newsom cursed the president-elect’s name in an interview with The New York Times, but shortly after the inauguration, the governor went to Washington to meet with Trump to discuss funding for wildfire relief.
Mr. Newsom had much of the conversation with Mr. Kirk, reflecting on the numerous ways in which former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign failed to attract key voters during the 2024 election, losing his dispute with young people, men and Hispanic voters.
But the most important revelation he made on the podcast posted Thursday morning was that Mr. Kirk urged the governor of California to agree with his point that it is unfair for trans women to participate in the women’s movement.
“I think it’s a fair question and I totally agree with you,” Mr Newsom said. “It’s a fair question. It’s very unfair.”
He also acknowledged the validity of Mr. Trump’s signature campaign ad, which declared: “Kamara is for them/theirs. President Trump is for you.”
“It’s devastating,” Mr Newsom said. “And she didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating.”
Mr Newsom has become the party’s most prominent official since the Democratic Party’s election losses last year, lamenting his stance on the trans movement, but he is not the number one. Hours after the presidential campaign, Massachusetts representative Seth Moulton told The Times that he did not want his young daughter to “run away from the field by a male or formerly a male athlete,” a retaliation sparked weeks of counterattack.
Since taking office, Mr. Trump has taken steps to try to eliminate transgender people from American life. He canceled T from federal LGBTQ policy online (for trans people) and moved away bans trans people from serving in the military.
Mr. Trump also signed an executive order to ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports and directed federal agencies to withhold school funds without complying with schools. A day later, the NCAA enacted such a ban. Now, both in K-12 schools and colleges, there are more than twenty states trans athletes.
Democrats are cautious about the issue, but many are trying to back down. On Monday, the party’s senators blocked a Republican bill that is very similar to Mr. Trump’s executive order, saying the Republicans seek political benefits by targeting a group of vulnerable children.
Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator from San Francisco, said it was disappointing to hear the news that Mr. Norm “allied” with Republicans on the issue.
“This is a punch from any Democratic leader, especially the Governor’s News Agency, because he has always been a staunch ally of the LGBTQ community,” Vienna said.
Kelley Robinson, chairman of the Human Rights Movement, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the United States, said Mr. Newsom’s comments were misled and politically powerless.
“The struggle for equality has never been an easy task, but history doesn’t remember those who shake, it remembers those who refuse to back down,” Ms. Robinson said. “Our message to Governor Newsom and all leaders across the country is simple: the road to 2028 has not been paved with betrayals from disadvantaged communities.”
Mr. Newsom spoke in detail on his podcast about the political effectiveness of attacking trans people in the presidential campaign. He called Mr. Trump’s “they/they” business “a great advertising.” He also questioned the practice of people pronouns they like when introducing themselves.
“I had a meeting and people started driving on the table with pronouns,” Mr Newsom said. “I thought, ‘What the hell is it, why is that the biggest problem?'”
Early in his political career, Mr. Newsom presided over a same-sex wedding before law allowed it after being elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003. He regularly participates in the city’s famous Pride Parade, supporting the expanded rights of the LGBTQ people for decades.
He is also the godfather of Nats Getty, a designer and oil heir who came out as a transgender person in 2021 and married Gigi Gorgeous, a trans YouTube personality. The governor provided video toast at the couple’s wedding in 2019.
Last year, as the school boards in conservative areas of California passed policies requiring educators to notify parents that if their children are identifiable in schools, Mr. Newsom signed a state law that prohibits such rules.
LGBTQ advocates welcome the law, while conservatives say they violate the rights of parents. Elon Musk sees the law as a reason to transfer his company SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas.
Mr Newsom also tried to show that he wanted to talk to Republicans and was willing to get involved with them. He had regular communication with conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity and debated Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on live TV in 2023.
It is therefore no surprise that Mr. Newsom expressed his most familiarity with Mr. Kirk, who himself is a well-known podcaster and Tiktok influencer. Mr. Newsom spent a lot of discussion agreeing that Mr. Kirk seemed to be exercised in real time on issues that long-time Democratic voters disliked, why Democrats lost their stance against Republicans last year.
As for what the party is going to do next, Mr. Newsom blew up well-known Democrats, especially strategist James Carville, who suggested the party allow Mr. Trump himself to be unpopular and wait for a competitive alternative.
“I’m thinking, ‘We’re going to take a step back and watch you run around us for six months, the next two or three years, waiting for this moment to finally strike,” Mr Newsom said. “It’s not necessarily the best advice.”
Mr Newsom also called his visit during the coronavirus pandemic, one of the most expensive restaurants in the country, and was “the stupidest bone move of my life” and added: “Have it, keep going, grow, grow”. The outing angered Californians living in the rules, which hindered gatherings, prompting a recall election to be held in 2021.
The governor also said that the only time he thought several of Mr. Joseph R. Biden’s allies, including actor George Clooney, later said the fundraising campaign had just worried about the president’s vitality.
“I’ve met another person,” Mr Newsom said. “That was once.”
