California governor raises questions with ‘This is Gavin Newsom’ podcast

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) new podcast hosting prominent supporters of President Trump is raising questions about his political strategy as he wraps up his tenure as governor and keeps the door open to a 2028 presidential run.  

The first few episodes of “This is Gavin Newsom” have found the governor seeking common ground with conservative figures like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon. The show has also seen Newsom break with Democrats on the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports, calling it “deeply unfair.”  

It all looks like a pivot toward the center by someone anticipating a White House race.

“I think he's playing the long game here. He realizes that he's got a lot of runway between now and the 2028 election,” said California Republican strategist Matt Klink.

Newsom is “positioning himself more as a moderate Democrat who is at least willing to listen to the thought leaders that are shaping the Republican narrative,” Klink said. That approach isn’t guaranteed to spell success with voters, but “it’s a start” at tacking toward the center.

Newsom has pitched his podcast as a way to “change the conversation” that will include “talking directly with people I disagree with, people I look up to, and you — the listeners.”  

His debut episode saw Newsom, who a few months ago was casting himself as the leading face of a new Trump resistance, in a conversation with Kirk, the right-wing media personality and co-founder of Turning Point USA. Next up was conservative talk show host Michael Savage, followed by Bannon, who was chief strategist at the White House during Trump’s first term. 

“He wants to be a middle-of-the-road Democrat. He tries to position himself more of a Bill Clinton-esque Democrat that can touch close enough to center, so that he can touch a little bit to the right and still move as far left as he needs to win a Democratic primary. He’s trying to try to navigate precarious waters,” Klink said.  

The strategy is also somewhat reminiscent of the one employed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as the former South Bend, Ind., mayor built his national profile in 2019 during his presidential bid.

The move to do podcasts is also reflective of the strategy employed by Trump in 2024 when he sought to reach young male voters through podcasts, a medium that has exploded in recent years.  

“Maybe it’s that young male voter or somebody like that who his internal research has shown that he has a chance at appealing to,” said former California Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D), who regularly appears on the conservative network Newsmax as a Democratic voice.  

“Perhaps it’s the ever-shrinking pool of undecided voters, perhaps there’s a demographic of people who say ‘oh you know I listen to Charlie Kirk every once in a while, he makes some good points and I saw Gavin Newsom talking with him and Gavin seemed like a decent fella,’” he said.

One California Democratic strategist said it’s a “salient and correct” idea for party figures to be “listening to folks who are not always absolutely aligned with us.”  

But the governor’s podcast guest list also risks alienating some Democrats.

“I guess the calculation is that by pursuing this podcast and this line of reasoning that he's going to pick up more than he loses,” the strategist said. 

One of Newsom’s fellow Democratic governors, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, reportedly said that “bringing on different voices is great,” but disagreed with giving Bannon “oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere.” 

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said he was “in shock at the stupidity” of Newsom hosting Bannon. “Many of us on the right sacrificed careers to fight Bannon, and Newsom is trying to make a career and a presidential run by building him up.” 

In his talk with Kirk, Newsom sided with Republican thinking on transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women's sports, calling it “an issue of fairness.”  

That comment drew backlash from LGBTQ advocates. ACLU California Action was “saddened and angered” by Newsom’s comments, Executive Director David Trujillo said in a statement.  

But Gatto pushed back against the notion Newsom was “platforming” anyone, noting Kirk and Bannon already have large audiences.  

“Give me a break,” Gatto said. “He was talking to people and having a debate where appropriate, finding agreement where they found agreement with people who absolutely represent the opinions of millions of Americans.” 

Newsom, who is term-limited as governor, has long been suspected of national ambitions. And though the next presidential election is nearly three years out, he’s already cropping up in early polling as a potential front-runner for Democrats.  

Experts on both sides of the aisle said the podcast move is a clear attempt to lay groundwork for a possible White House run.  

“I think every move that Governor Newsom makes is calculated and calibrated as to how it impacts the future run for him,” said the Democratic strategist. 

Klink suggested Newsom is trying to learn the ins and outs of Republican and MAGA arguments in order to better make the argument, if he does run for higher office, that the Democratic solution is the better one.  

But, as 2028 speculation swirls, the governor has faced criticism from Republicans and even Democrats for appearing too opportunistic when it comes to any kind of self-promotion. On top of that, any move to the political center could be perceived as flip-flopping after serving as governor of arguably the most liberal state in the country.  

“A lot of people are still going to say you took this position in 2023, you signed legislation in 2024 and then you said something a little bit different in 2025,” Gatto said. “People are not going to give that a tremendous amount of credibility for those reasons.”  

California Republican strategist Rob Stutzman pointed to Newsom’s longtime status as Trump resistance chief and his newer, friendlier approach to Trump amid wildfire fallout.  

“Newsom has a history of being a politician that will adapt to changing circumstances,” Stutzman said. “I think he's figured out the way forward for a politician like him, if he’s going to run for president, is probably to start exploring, will anyone follow him into a lane that is more dismissive, particularly on culture, of where the Democrats have been for the past decade?”