Gavin Newsom’s Moderate Makeover Is Like a Bad Hollywood Reboot

It’s no secret that California Governor Gavin Newsom has presidential aspirations. But his shameless attempts to moderate his left-wing image following years of unabashed progressive governance is like a bad Hollywood reboot—nobody’s buying it, and the original wasn’t any good to begin with.

The first installment of Newsom’s new podcast, featuring conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, was the governor’s most transparent attempt yet to seem like a “normal” Democrat. Newsom chummed it up with Kirk, famous for debating liberals on camera, agreeing that President Donald Trump is a “cultural phenomenon,” asking Kirk for campaign advice, and even admitting that his 13-year-old son was a big fan of Kirk’s content.

But the comment that generated the most buzz was Newsom’s statement that it is “deeply unfair” to allow males who identify as transgender to compete in women’s sports.

“Would you say no men in female sports?” Kirk asked the governor.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness,” Newsom responded. “I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair.”

Democrat elected officials and the liberal media were quick to bring out the pitchforks for Newsom. SFGate called the podcast “genuinely humiliating.” Mother Jones likewise called the governor’s comments “humiliating” and “craven.” The New Republic declared simply, “Gavin Newsom Is the Worst.”

Politico, meanwhile, reported that “Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento described Newsom’s remarks ricocheting between their phones, trailed by incredulity and outrage at a governor who built his national political profile on recognizing same-sex marriage aligning himself with right-wing opposition to trans rights.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called Newsom’s comments “disgusting,” saying, “There are kids waking up today in California with this news thinking that their governor hates them, and rightly so.” California Democrat Rep. Sara Jacobs said it was “unfair” that politicians were supposedly “abandoning [trans kids] for political expediency.”

But filming a podcast with one of the most reviled figures on the far left wasn’t the first instance of Newsom attempting to rebrand as a moderate – or even MAGA-adjacent.

Following Trump’s inauguration in January, Newsom was the first elected Democrat to sit down with him in the Oval Office. Newsom also went out of his way to offer a friendly greeting to Trump when he visited the Golden State earlier this year, emphasizing that he wanted to work together with the administration on wildfire recovery efforts.

For anyone with a political memory of just a few months, it may indeed seem like Gavin Newsom is a pragmatic moderate willing to work with Republicans and Democrats on common-sense solutions while avoiding the divisive left-wing culture war. But this woefully naïve analysis ignores a career of hard-left governance that has devastated Newsom’s home state.

While Newsom now claims that allowing men who claim transgender status to compete in women’s sports is “deeply unfair,” does he really expect viewers to forget that he signed a law which made California the very first “sanctuary state” for transgender procedures on minors? That legislation allows California courts to strip custody from parents – even parents of children who don’t live in California – if they refuse to acknowledge their child’s gender confusion.

In other words, in California today, minor children can seek permanent, dangerous, life-altering transgender surgeries and hormone treatments without the consent of their parents thanks to a signature from Gavin Newsom.

The case of Jeff Younger, a father of twin boys, is just one tragic example of the horrific consequences of this law. In 2022, just days after Newsom signed the bill, Younger’s ex-wife Anne fled with one of his sons, who believed he was actually a girl, to California. A California judge then awarded Anne full custody of the boy – including the right to pursue so-called “gender-affirming care,” such as chemical castration.

In 2024, Newsom also signed AB 1995, a law which prohibits California schools from notifying parents if their child begins identifying as the opposite sex. Elon Musk called this law the “final straw” that caused him to move SpaceX’s headquarters from California to Texas.

But Newsom isn’t just a left-wing radical when it comes to gender ideology. He also supported ending cash bail; oversaw policies that allowed thousands of inmates, including violent offenders, to be released early; suspended the death penalty in California (despite voters upholding it in a 2016 vote); has spent over $20 billion on the homelessness crisis only to see it worsen; signed legislation supporting so-called “safe injection sites”; signed an EV mandate that threatens to upend the entire U.S. auto industry; approved free health care for illegal aliens; restricted local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities; and mandated courses teaching Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools – just to name a few far-left insanities.

All of these policies have been an unmitigated disaster for his state. California ranked number one in the country for the largest net migration loss in 2023 and 2024. The state also ranks dead last in cost of living, has by far the largest homeless population in the country, and is $158 billion in debt – more than double any other state.

Gavin Newsom’s sudden moderate pivot isn’t likely to fool many conservative and independent voters – while also putting him on the outs with the liberal Democrat primary electorate. He can cozy up to Charlie Kirk, shake hands with Donald Trump, and throw out a few talking points that sound centrist, but the record of his governorship tells a different story.

Californians are living in the wreckage of his policies, and no amount of political rebranding will make voters forget who wrote the original screenplay.

Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.