Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly Warn Conservatives About Appearing on Gavin Newsom’s Podcast

Republicans and Conservatives appear to be avoiding Gavin Newsom’s new podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” It reached a new peak on Tuesday with political commentator Tucker Carlson and talk show host Megyn Kelly saying that it is a mistake to be a guest on Newsom’s show, and encouraged others not to do it.

While a guest on Kelly’s podcast, Carlson proceeded to identify that it was only a superficial move that Newsom wanted to hear from Republicans. Instead, Carlson said that the real move behind Newsom reaching out to figures on the right was to help “rehabilitate” himself and get prepared for the 2028 presidential election. Until recently, Carlson was actually booked to appear on “This is Gavin Newsom” and that he even texts with him occasionally.

“I have been bothering him for years, ‘You should come on my show.’ And he was kind of open to it. And then he whips around and he’s like, ‘No, you should come on mine,'” said Carlson on Tuesday. “I was like, ‘I would love to,’ because I would love to debate him about what he’s done to my state. And then I watched a parade of people go on, some of whom are good friends mine, and I realized – and I’m not attacking them at all – I almost did, but then I realized, oh, wait a second, the point of this is not to have a real conversation or to answer questions. The point of this is to rehabilitate.”

“He is legit smart but that there is nothing at all at the core other than misery — another deeply, deeply unhappy person who we should be rooting for him to get his life together, but someone who kind of externalizes everything.”

Kelly agreed, saying that conservatives shouldn’t go on for similar reasons.

“I’ve said I’m against conservatives going on his podcast because I think it’s helping him train for 2028, and I don’t think we should help him,” added Kelly.

Since February, Newsom has hosted “This is Gavin Newsom,” which is his second ongoing podcast alongside “Politickin.” Newsom announced his podcast in February, saying that he would be talking with several MAGA figures. Right from the beginning it was controversial, with many Californians being concerned with Newsom hosting multiple podcasts as Governor.

Episode one featured Newsom talking to Turning Point USA co-founder, talk radio host, and activist Charlie Kirk. Newsom made good on his promise to talk with people on the right and the left, but the episode turned out to be a disaster. Liberals, as well as the LGBT community, took offense at Newsom taking a new stance against trans men competing in womens sports. Kirk also slammed Newsom on the state of the Democratic party several times, with Newsom at one point even asking him what Democrats should do.

And then there was episode three where he talked with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon got quips over Newsom like Kirk. Even worse for Newsom was the response from Democratic lawmakers, with many 2028 hopefuls bashing Newsom for interviewing Bannon. Episode four saw Newsom sitting down with Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz. And here things went wrong again. The Walz interview went viral, but mostly because of both of them admitting that it was hard for Democrats to retain male voters and because Walz claimed that the GOP was afraid of his masculinity, with the latter being widely ridiculed.

Following that, only one other Republican has bothered to go on the show – former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci. Besides him, it has been a stream of left-leaning or Democratic guests as conservatives like Carlson opt out of being a guest. In fact, many have said that this can hurt Newsom in the long run, a sentiment backed up by statistics showing that his podcast has brought out more people against him than for him.

“Governor Newsom’s podcast strategy comes with significant risks and rewards,” President of The Righting Howard Polskin told the Globe last month. “It certainly helps get the stink of January smoke out of his suit, figuratively speaking.  Here we are discussing his podcast instead of deconstructing his state’s response to the deadly Los Angeles-area fires in January.  That’s a big win for Newsom.

“Newsom probably goes a bit too soft on his guests but I understand his dilemma.  If he takes an aggressive and adversarial posture with a guest, he’ll have trouble getting future guests from the right on his show. But the danger is that he can wind up looking like Neville Chamberlain, the great appeaser.”

Carlson and Kelly are the biggest names to come out against his podcast, compromising Newsom’s ability to get more Republican guests. Newsom has yet to comment on the matter, with Carlson breaking down exactly what Newsom is looking for in the podcast.

“There’s nothing at the center, and so everything is about the public display,” added Carlson. “A truly wounded, screwed up person on a very deep level — not joking — but also a talented person who will say anything, which in politics is an advantage.”