Newsom Embarrasses Himself in First Episode of ‘This Is Gavin Newsom’

Last year, when Gavin Newsom introduced his new podcast “Politickin,” he promised that it wouldn’t be political. However, it turned out to be VERY political within the first few episodes. But, as it went on, Newsom wasn’t putting his foot in his mouth too often. His co-hosts, former NFL star Marshawn Lynch, and his agent Doug Hendrickson, have often taken the lead from Newsom. And, to the podcast’s credit, they go off on tangents and get many non-political guests on the show, ranging from actors like Mark Hamill and Woody Harrelson to sports figures like coach Pete Carroll and former NBA star Jason Kidd.

Should Newsom be really more focused on being Governor than talking with Alyssa Milano? Oh yes. But he hasn’t said anything that would, say, hurt his chances in 2028 beyond playing podcast host than when he should be Governor.

But then came “This is Gavin Newsom,” because he really needed a second podcast. Last month he announced the podcast, promising a much more political podcast where he sits down one-on-one with someone in the realm of politics. More specifically, he promised to talk with MAGA leaders, as well as Democrats he admired and others. As the Globe pointed out, it was immediately seen as Newsom’s next step towards a 2028 run and as a way for him to get control of the narrative and “distance himself from himself.” And his first guest? Turning Point USA co-founder, talk radio host, and activist Charlie Kirk. As promised by Newsom, he would speaking to those on the right, even those nearly half his age.

And it kind of turned into a disaster for Newsom. You can listen here if you dare.

The biggest controversy on the night was Newsom breaking from most Democrats in saying that it was “deeply unfair” to have trans athletes competing against women in sports. He didn’t call for a ban, but he came damn close.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” said Newsom. “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”

That has been in the headlines the last few days, with Democrats and the LGBT community crashing down on him for saying that, even though that has become the more moderate response in recent years.

In listening to the podcast, however, there were a lot of other very strange tangents. Newsom might be gunning for a more all around appeal, and if it meant Kirk humiliating him, then he did a fine job. In fact, it wasn’t even Newsom’s only trans comment of the night. Later on, when they talked about a Trump ad slamming Kamala Harris for supporting gender affirming care for prisoners, he remarked that “She didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating.”

In addition, Newsom heavily discussed Democratic strategist James Carville’s recent remarks about the Democrats needing to retreat politically over the next few years and let the Republicans do more ‘damage’ for the American public to miss Democrats. Newsom lashed out to Kirk during the podcast about it.

“I immediately, no B.S., thought about you, who’s just 24/7 flooding the zone, owning this space every day, getting a convert every day, picking up one, two, 10,000 folks, continuing the momentum, coming out of this damn election,” said Newsom to Kirk. “And then I’m thinking about – we’re gonna stand back and watch you run circles around us for six months, the next two or three years, waiting for the moment to finally strike – struck me as not necessarily the best advice. And that’s not a knock on Carville, who I have deep respect for.”

“Yeah, I hope you guys retreat. More for us!” Kirk responded. “I mean, there’s no opposition, no activist spark.”

And then Newsom asked for advice for his party.

“Get better ideas Governor,” explained Kirk. “Right around, I’d say 2021, we had a goal: could we move the youth vote 10 points over 10 years? Because our whole hypothesis was – and we did this alongside President Trump and his great team – was that this demographic is disproportionately to the Democrat side. We believe Democrats were taking them for granted. We think that your side had no message whatsoever and an ideological monopoly. We saw some of the fault lines there.

“And to President Trump’s credit, he also harmonized with the strategy by going on podcasting and using TikTok. But, yeah, I mean, we did it in four years, not 10, in large part thanks to you guys.”

In addition, Kirk pointed out how Democrats ignored that the American Dream is more unobtainable now for younger people, while Republicans latched onto it and brought in more younger voters as a result.

“This is the first time in America’s history that a 30-year-old is gonna have it worse off than their parents. It’s a breakdown of the social compact,” continued Kirk. “They are the most alcohol-addicted, most drug-addicted, most suicidal, most depressed, most medicated generation in history. And the message that was largely being fed to a lot of young people was lower your expectations. You’re not gonna have the same American Dream that your parents would have. And we saw this as an opportunity, especially with young men.

“This got ridiculed a lot by the press that, ‘Oh, you know, they’re creating this manosphere thing.’ Look, they’re half of the population and necessary for any society and civilization to succeed, which is have both strong men and strong women. And we went about that in a very unique and creative way.”

Kirk, Newsom clash

Also discussed was Trump’s personality as opposed to Biden and Harris.

“Trump is a cultural phenomenon,” added Kirk. “No matter what you threw at this guy, he rose above it. And despite all of that, of course, being shot, and that was kind of the crescendo of all of it, he kind of became this figure of an American comeback story. So he personified what a lot of young people, especially young men, wanted back in their politics, which was an ascendant rebel attitude against these institutions that have failed them so miserably.”

Newsom responded by saying how even his 13-year-old son likes Kirk, and that younger people are being more drawn to the GOP now.

“With young people, you’re making a damn dent,” admitted Newsom.

All in all, episode 1 was a bit of a disaster for Newsom. This is his podcast. He edited it to be like this too. Imagine all of the things left out.

And it didn’t sit well with many. Many outlets called it “embarrassing,” while others called it a huge misstep for Newsom as he just alienated some crucial bases for 2028. He definitely lost the small but vocal trans community of voters after this and damaged his reputation with the LGBT community – one of his major blocs of support. Democrats in general were likewise disappointed by his comments.

Newsom asking Kirk for advice was also probably not the smartest move, though to Kirk’s credit, he did do a good job of explaining a part of why Trump won last year and why the GOP managed to do very well.

“This is Gavin Newsom” delivered on its promise to be more political and talk with people on the right. But his first episode showed that he did it too well, with Kirk walking away with an easy victory.