It looks like having a conservative activist on his new podcast wasn’t a one-time fluke for California Gov. Gavin Newsom. This week, he welcomed Steve Bannon and Michael Savage.
For a little refresher, Bannon continues to claim that President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election against former President Joe Biden – without evidence. Savage once worked for MSNBC but was fired for telling an LGBTQ+ caller to get AIDS and die.
During the first episode of “This is Gavin Newsom”, the governor’s conversation with Charlie Kirk, co-founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, turned to transgender athletes. Newsom, who made a name for himself on the national political scene as a champion of LGBTQ+ rights, said that he thinks it is “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
This has left many of Newsom’s supporters confused. So… what exactly is going on with this podcast? Two experts joined Audacy this week to offer their opinions.
“It’s getting attention,” said KCBS Radio insider Phil Matier. “I’m going to tell you, it’s getting attention.”
Matier explained that Newsom is “going over and around the Democratic establishment” with the show. He noted that it is reaching millions of people on YouTube and other podcasting platforms, including younger generations.
“He is maybe shooting himself in the foot with people who have already shot themselves in both foot. You have to understand that the Democrats really lost this last election,” said Matier. “They lost it. It was the first time in decades that they lost the popular vote on the presidential election by a couple of million. They didn’t claim the Senate or the House.”
He said that while some in the Democratic establishment that are reliant on The New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC, “Newsom is moving into the world... what they call the podcast – and they say that this last election was the podcast election.”
For example, Trump joined “The Joe Rogan Experience”, a popular podcast, just before the November election. While the team for the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Kamala Harris, reportedly tried to book her on the show, it ultimately fell through. Rogan, the show’s host, endorsed Trump shortly before the election.
“It showed that you can go out there, go around, and break through to voters in a whole different level,” said Matier of the 2024 election. “And Newsom, being Gavin Newsom, wants to lead that parade. Shoot him in the foot, or he’s going to march ahead of everybody else. Either way, I don’t know of any other Democrat that right now that could pull these kinds of numbers and get this kind of attention.”
Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, also joined KNX News to discuss Newsom’s latest moves in the context of a changing media landscape.
“Most people believe that the left wing controls the American media ecosystem. That is no longer the case,” said Madrid. “By a wide measure, it is right-wing folks like Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk owning Twitter – the Los Angeles Times has moved decisively right, as has the Washington Post. The right-wing controls the media. What [Newsom’s] doing very eloquently, and… brilliantly, is going into that ecosystem and engaging it on its ground.”
While some have seen Newsom’s show launch as the start of a 2028 presidential campaign, Madrid doesn’t think that’s where this project is headed.
“For the first time, I think he’s not running for president because this was either the worst rollout for a presidential campaign in history, or it’s one of the most brilliant rollouts for a media company going forward,” he said. “And that’s ultimately what I think he’s doing.”
Madrid noted that, as the mayor of San Francisco, Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a federal ban on gay marriage around 20 years ago. For much of his political career, he defined himself by leaning to the far left of the political spectrum.
At this point, Madrid thinks it would be a mistake for the governor to abandon that for a re-brand as a centrist Democrat. That’s a mistake he doesn’t think Newsom would make.
“To somehow think that at the one-yard line, you can fumble the ball and still win... makes absolutely no sense – and this is a man who is a generational talent,” said Madrid. “You don’t get as far as he has gotten by being sloppy, silly or not knowing what you’re doing, despite what his enemies say. This is a very sophisticated operator so I don't believe for a moment that this is a rollout to say ‘I’m now centrist.’”
Matier also said Newsom isn’t only planning to have right-leaning guests on the show. The next guest on “This is Gavin Newsom” is expected to be Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrat who ran as Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election.
“That’s about as mainstream democratic as you could get,” Matier said.