California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom in his new podcast seems to make nice with right-wing provocateurs Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk, which has turned heads as he looks ahead to a potential 2028 presidential run, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Specifically, his statement that transgender girls and women participating in female sports leagues is "deeply unfair" produced an uproar since Newsom has been a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ rights.
"I think he wants to be president, more than anything else on the planet. I think you can agree, he has more political ambition that almost anybody in the Democrat Party," Kirk, a right-wing political influencer, said last week during an appearance on Fox News.
"I think he understands that the entire country is moving center-right and is accelerating at a rapid pace. … This means that we are winning at such a rapid pace that the governor of the largest state in the country … has to adjust his policies against the base of the party to even be taken seriously to run for president in 2028."
Newsom during a sit-down with Bannon also didn't challenge Bannon's claim that the 2020 election was rigged.
Still, his podcast has garnered millions of views on YouTube. Newsom's conversation with Kirk alone brought in 748,000 views, and counting.
His approach has angered many.
"If Newsom's goal is to just appear open-minded to MAGA voters and he uses his platform to only point out when he agrees with extremists' voices, like banning trans athletes in youth sports, it's weak and not the leadership I'm seeking right now," Jane Kim, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, told the Journal.
"If Newsom really hopes to be president someday, the best thing he could do is a bang-up job in his final 22 months as governor," wrote Mark Barabak for the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
"Not waste time on glib and self-flattering diversions. People have told Newsom as much. But the only voice he seems to care about his own."