This is Gavin Newsom: How Not to Do Politics
18/04/25
Embedded Files
GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, GAVIN NEWSOM, IMAGE: OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFRONIA
The Democratic Governor of California has taken on a second job: that of a podcaster. While he isn't a Rory Stewart or a Noel King, he has invited speakers and caught the attention of Californians and Americans who have never heard of him. Seen as a possible front runner for the Democrats’ presidential campaign in 2028, how he introduces himself to America through his podcast, and who he invites, reveals his strategy, what he is willing to concede on, and most importantly, what he believes.
Let's look at his first 3 guests: Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, and Michael Savage. I'm sure you’ve heard of one of them. Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative organisation responsible for proliferating conservatism on college campuses and high schools. Kirk himself gained notoriety by debating college students on abortion, race relations and more battlefronts of the culture war. Charlie Kirk has been an important figure in the MAGA movement, posting 16 times in only the past week for his 3.11 million subscribers to hear; one video’s title reads ‘Democrats are Finished The Diddy Party is OVER’ and another ‘Dark Forces Are Coming For Your Kids Through Their Books: But There is Hope!’. Despite all this, Newsom admitted that his 13-year-old son was a big fan of his, which should be an awkward thing to say for a Democratic governor.
CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST CHARLIE KIRK, IMAGE: GAGE SKIDMORE
Michael Savage, on the other hand, is an individual whom Newsom’s son may be too young to have heard about. Mr Savage, once banned by Jacqui Smith from entering the UK, is a conservative political commentator and former radio host. In 2006, he said, regarding Muslims, "Oh, there's a billion of them”, adding we ought to “kill 100 million of them, then there'd be 900 million of them”, concluding with the question: “Would you rather us die than them?”.
This alone should, in a normal world, be a career-ending comment. But instead, twenty years later, he’s reached the feat of conducting a conversation with a politician (who should be opposed to his ideology) in almost a fatherly fashion. The final man, and it’s only been men so far in Newsom’s unholy trinity, is Steve Bannon: a conspiracy theorist, felon, and fascist— you don’t wave like that in 2025 — but also a person Newsom wants to speak to. Falling approval ratings, humiliation on his own platform, I’m sure you’re asking yourself by now, what is Newsom’s deal with political self-flagellation? There’s room for debate.
MICHEAL SAVAGE WITH VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, IMAGE: WHITE HOUSE
Amidst tempers flaring nationwide over DOGE’s gutting of the administrative state, sponsored by Trump’s own eminence grise, Elon Musk, the President has a role as a healer. Alongside an arrow is an olive branch on the President’s seal. By promoting dialogue between the most polarised sides in modern American history, he could see himself bridging the divide between Republicans and Democrats, yearning to find common points of agreement that show Americans may have differing political beliefs, but they have the same spirit. ‘We all love our country; we just have different ways of doing so’ is a philosophy that many liberals and moderate conservatives have embraced. It allows them to soften the edges politics creates - sometimes to noble aims.
This can be seen when they swallowed their partisanship and joined forces to stop Trump’s electoral success; see the Lincoln Project’s anti-Trump ads and endorsement of Joe Biden, then Kamala Harris, to Liz Cheney joining Democrats in voting to impeach Trump and then endorsing Kamala Harris. However, Newsom falls on the curve where his universalism is a more deliberate and cynical tactic. A tactic that downplays serious ideological differences that need to be addressed and challenged.
After facing a bloodbath election, one where your party loses the popular vote for the first time in 20 years to a felon, a serial liar, a racist and misogynist, one who let over a million Americans die on his watch during Covid only 4 short years ago, you’d naturally look to yourself and self-reflect. That’s frankly what you should do. Democrats are doing that right now and have been doing so for the past 5 months, coming up with a strategy of action, or inaction. I think there are two important camps to take note of: the ‘lie dead’ camp and the more aggressive Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. The latter have been speaking across the country, disavowing Trump’s eagerness to skirt the judicial system, the creep of oligarchy in America (more like plutocracy) where the wealthy increase their share of wealth at the expense of the poor, and contempt for migrants. They believe that Trump must be fought on their grounds, not his, grounds that challenge the ruling class.
On the other hand, Democrats like James Carville think allowing the Republicans to blow up the country will make America miss the Democrats. He’s mistaken for thinking that failing to capture the groundswell of anger at Trump and build it into something for the mid-terms is a good approach to politics. Quitting your job isn’t a way to get a promotion. There is a third camp, though - Gavin Newsom. Or rather, a sole person standing in the wind carrying two tent stakes.
NEWSOM AT A PRESS RELEASE, IMAGE: CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Instead of meeting it with opposition, with an equal amount of assertiveness and real fight, or staying low, Gavin has chosen to acquiesce in his podcasts. In the first 5 minutes of his interview with Steve Bannon, he left Bannon’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen unchallenged, refusing to challenge him on matters of importance, like why he’s in favour of an unconstitutional Trump third presidency. It’s a dereliction of duty. But what’s unexplainable is a moment in his dialogue with Michael Savage.
Gavin Newsom: “It's not a flippant question, and I hope certainly not patronising, but what the hell do you think our party needs to do, and what's the biggest lesson?”
Michael Savage responds, “Seriously, are you really serious?”
Gavin Newsom: “Michael Savage, we need to know. Advice to the Democrats. Was it because we're too woke, because we didn't focus on borders…”
This becomes explainable once you realise that by inviting spokesmen of the far right, Newsom has been pulling closer to the ear of Trump’s base in the hope that they see his appeasement strategy and consider voting for him in 2028; that’s why he’s constantly looking to show he agrees with those who see him as an opponent. To Gavin, politics is steering rightward, and if he doesn’t shift with it, he’ll sink. But it’s a fruitless campaign.
Picture 2028 and Gavin Newsom wins the Democrats Presidential nomination. Having forsaken progressives and their cause, attack ads play throughout the country showing Sacramento streets of homeless Californians who can’t afford to live in the state, 8 of whom froze to death in 2021. Having unmotivated Democrats whose living standards have sunk due to Trump, and not only failing to bring Republicans onto his side, but also helping normalise MAGA, he faces a bleak projection on November 7th. Sullen, with his head in his hands, he’ll ask why his strategy failed. All Newsom would have done is normalise the right and delivered an election loss by giving a free platform to the right that he won’t get in return.
When someone says that Steve Bannon reminds you of what Bernie Sanders says, they’ve either got bad ears or don’t understand what Bernie says. But with Newsom, he says it because he wants his party to appeal to Bannon’s supporters; it won’t, and this is politics.
Google Sites
Report abuse