Gov. Newsom To Interview w/ Hannity on Fox News Next Week

Amid several national-level news stories coming out in the past few weeks, and a growing speculation of a 2024 presidential run, California Governor Gavin Newsom  agreed to be interviewed by Fox News’ Sean Hannity next week in what has been called a “make-or-break” interview for Newsom.

In the past few months, Governor Newsom has frequently been part of some of the leading national and even international stories. While the beginning of the year was dominated by weather-related stories and Newsom being the face of flooding across the state due to a long-series of atmospheric river storms, crime and economic stories quickly dominated the early Spring for the Governor.

In the last few weeks, immigration also came to the forefront, with Newsom being one of the leading voices on the end of Title 42, a rise in immigration, and, most recently, over the Florida-sponsored migrant flights into Sacramento. With the latter story causing significant political blowback over California’s sanctuary state status, Newsom’s most recent headline grabbing action was proposing a 28th Amendment to the Constitution over several gun control actions.

The amendment proposal also fueled speculation this week that Newsom could be looking at a run for the 2024 presidential election, despite having previously said that he was backing President Joe Biden 100% and did not want to run in 2024. But with Biden’s approval tanking, his approval rating below where President Trump’s was at the same time in his presidency, an entrance into the race to ‘save’ his party’s chances and potentially meet his political rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on the national stage has been seen by many as a growing possibility.

While Newsom has routinely given interviews to ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC in the past, as well as other major news networks, about recent, major stories, he has often failed to leave a ‘splash’, with the interviews being seen as either too safe or too preplanned. But with many issues and recent stories needing to be addressed, and wanting to find a medium with both a large audience and guaranteed coverage by other networks after the fact, both Newsom and Fox News agreed to an interview early next week.

The interview, Newsom’s first on the network since 2010 when he was Mayor of San Francisco, will take place on June 12th at the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento, with Sean Hannity scheduled to interview for his 9 PM show “Hannity”.

“The highly anticipated interview, which will air Monday, will take place in California’s capital of Sacramento,” said Fox News on Thursday in an announcement. “Hannity and Newsom will discuss a broad range of issues impacting the Golden State as well as the country itself, from immigration and the economy to the 2024 presidential election. They will also discuss Newsom’s newly-proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution that tackles gun safety in America.”

Newsom-Hannity

Newsom agreeing to an interview on the network is seen as unusual by many, as in the past, Newsom has often spoken out against Fox News coverage.

“It’s a disgrace what they say, what these people say every single night,” Newsom said in January over coverage of recent mass shootings. “There’s xenophobia, they’re racial priming, what they have done to perpetuate crime and violence in this country, by scapegoating, and by doing not a damn thing about gun safety, not a damn thing for decades. Democrats are getting crushed by the messaging being put forth on the channel, while their ruthless hosts dominate the most important thing in American politics today, and that’s the narrative.”

However, political experts noted on Friday that Newsom has needed new outlets for interviews for quite some time, with Fox News especially being important for a major national run as it is seen as the major conservative-leaning network in the United States. For Newsom, that could ‘make or break’ his chances for a 2024 run, as well as defend his work to an audience he often doesn’t interact with.

“Yeah, I would say that Monday’s interview will make or break Newsom,” Charlotte Day, a Los Angeles-based media coach who focuses on politician and lawmaker clientele, told the Globe on Friday. “When you go to what is expected to be a more hardball interview, you know that those are the clips and soundbites that will be remembered for a long time. They are also the interviews that will be talked about for some time.”

“Throw into the mix several recent controversial moves and a presidential run speculation, and you have a situation where one wrong move can lead to a big spiral down. You better believe that the Newsom staff is prepping like crazy for this, even if Fox is giving him all the questions beforehand, which if you have ever seen Hannity or other contemporaries who are more hardball, you know isn’t the case.”

“A lot is on the line too. Immigration, crime, homelessness, gun rights, and a possible run next year are just some of the issues on the table. If I were Hannity, I’d press him on giving a direct yes or no for each question followed by explanation. If I were Newsom, I’d stick to the facts and keep the interview close to the chest.”

“What we’re likely to see is Newsom defending his record and defending his recent actions, as well as being vague over some of the issues. It’s unlikely that there will be a true ‘gotcha’ moment with him, but if any network could do it, it would be Fox. Team Newsom is prepping, but so are Hannity’s people. You need to remember that. Nixon forgot to do that with David Frost back in the 70’s, and his reputation took an even bigger hit as a result.”

“If Newsom is running for a higher office on the horizon, then Monday will, at the very least, be a big stress test for him. He cannot afford to screw it up.”

The Newsom-Hannity interview is scheduled to air Monday night on Fox News.