Days after his office called the killing of Renee Good “state-sponsored terrorism,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) backtracked.
Newsom appeared to disagree with his office’s comments during an episode of his podcast with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
“Your press office tweeted out that [ICE operations were] ‘state-sponsored terrorism,’” Shapiro said, with Newsom replying in short that he thought the statement was “aggressive.”
“Our ICE officers obviously are not terrorists…a tragic situation is not state-sponsored terrorism,” Shapiro said.
Newsom replied, “Yeah, I think that’s fair.”
Newsom’s press office, which has been incessantly imitating President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posting style, posted the statement criticizing the Trump administration for Good’s death on Jan. 7.
“STATE. SPONSORED. TERRORISM,” it wrote in a post on X.
Many Democrats widely condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions in Minneapolis and referred to the death of Good as “murder.” Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender, has marketed himself as more moderate recently, including launching his podcast as a space to communicate with conservatives, such as Shapiro.
Newsom’s statement from his personal account after Good’s death further explained his stance on the Trump administration’s wide deployment of ICE.
“His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability,” he wrote. “Now, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen is dead. Donald Trump owns this. His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences. His reckless crackdown must end.”
Later in the same podcast, Newsom said he would not abolish ICE.
“I disagreed when I think a candidate for president by the name of Harris said that in the last campaign. I remember being on Chris Hayes hours later, saying I think that’s a mistake. So absolutely,” Newsom said.
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Shapiro and Newsom also discussed gender identity, with Shapiro asking Newsom whether he believes boys can become girls.
“Yeah … well, I think … for the grace of God … yeah,” he said.