Gov. Gavin Newsom defended his newest podcasting venture as an attempt to rehabilitate the “toxic” Democratic Party as it struggles to find its way out of the political wilderness after losing both houses of Congress and the White House last November.
“The Democratic brand is toxic right now,” Newsom said during a Friday interview with news show host Bill Maher. “Democrats, we tend to be a little more judgmental than we should be. We talk down to people. We talk past people.”
The governor sparked controversy last month after he hosted MAGA strategist Steve Bannon on “This Is Gavin Newsom” and told far-right youth movement influencer Charlie Kirk it was “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to compete with their cisgender peers. LGBTQ allies denounced his remarks as “sickening” and right-wing pundits called it a “transactional” ploy to appeal to moderate voters as Newsom mulls his future after he terms out of office in 2026.
The Democratic Party has struggled to respond to constituents who are angry with its majority leaders and President Donald Trump’s proposed slashing of social welfare programs and mass firing of federal workers. Some electeds, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, have embarked on public speaking tours to harness that energy while others have hosted town halls, to middling success. Newsom noted a recent NBC poll put the party’s favorability rating at a historically low 27%.
The media-savvy governor has largely eschewed public press events in recent months and instead turned to the microphone. He spoke with Bannon, Kirk, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and, most recently, policy reporter Ezra Klein, whose book, “Abundance,” prominently features California as a prime example of liberal governance hamstrung by inefficient bureaucracy.
Newsom told Maher his podcast was a chance to “call balls and strikes” while exploring how Trump managed to recapture the White House and make historic inroads with traditionally reliable Democratic voting blocs, like Latinos and young men.
Maher, who hosts “Real Time,” has forged an image as a smug contrarian unafraid of antagonizing his fellow Democrats.
“We’re not winning right now. He (Trump) won by 2.3 million votes. We’ve lost the House and the Senate, and we’re in a panic,” Newsom told Maher. “I get it, for good reason. This guy is not screwing around, right? We need to own our mistakes, we need to own what’s wrong with our party.”
The governor did not address his eleventh-hour support for Joe Biden, and has largely been silent as Trump ramped up his attacks on Democratic governors, and in the last week, on California’s federal education funding, election integrity, and gun laws. And when Maher asked him about his remarks about transgender people, Newsom doubled down and said the LGBTQ community was trying to “cancel” a staunch political ally for siding with “80% of the country.”
“That’s the challenge we have,” Newsom said. “You want to cancel someone who’s been with you on almost you know, every critical issue, of every critical junket, for decades, or cancel you (Maher) because you have the audacity to go visit with Trump next week.”
Will party be ‘permanent minority’?
He joined other prominent Democrats like Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who told Politico the party was in danger of becoming a “permanent minority.” Delaware Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly trans member of Congress, has quietly met with other Democrats to formulate a cohesive party message on transgender issues.
Both Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and California Rep. Sam Liccardo took shots at Newsom after his interview with Maher.
“Newsom calling the Democratic brand ‘toxic’ resembles the defendant who pleads for a judge’s mercy as an ‘orphan’ after killing his parents,” Liccardo, who represents the South Bay, said on X. “I should know: Gavin Newsom and the California Democratic Party endorsed my opponent last year…and I won by double digits.”
Bennet told “Meet The Press” on Sunday that the Democratic Party was “problematic,” but said the party’s problems stemmed from its close association with wealthy, educated coastal officials like Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I think that it is a brand that is, with all respect to my colleague from California, is associated with New York and with California, is associated with the educated elites in this country, and – and not anymore with working people in this country.”
© American Military News
