Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) attempts to rebrand himself after his party suffered a brutal defeat in November are meeting stiff opposition from some of his colleagues.
In the wake of a red wave last November and recent polls showing Democrats’ approval ratings remain underwater, Newsom launched a podcast this year designed to appeal to right-leaning voters and address issues his party lost on during the 2024 elections.
But the governor’s effort to moderate himself has been met with often hostile reactions from his own party, with Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sam Liccardo (D-CA) crying foul after Newsom’s latest comments on the “toxic” Democratic brand.
“With respect, [Gavin Newsom], the Democratic party is not ‘toxic.’ This is not the time to join the chorus in bashing our party. The rage should be about what Trump is doing TODAY. Let’s share what our party has done & offer a forward vision for the future,” Khanna wrote in a post to X.
Liccardo similarly slammed Newsom, saying that the governor’s “calling the Democratic brand ‘toxic’ resembles the defendant who pleads for a judge’s mercy as an ‘orphan’ after killing his parents.”
“I should know: [Gavin Newsom] & CA Dem Party endorsed my opponent last year…and I won by double digits,” the state representative added.
His anger comes after Newsom made an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, during which he suggested Republicans have gained momentum because “the Democratic brand is toxic right now.”
“These guys are crushing us,” the governor said. “The Democratic brand is toxic right now… it’s one thing to make noise but you also have to make sense, and with this podcast and having the opportunity to dialogue with people I disagree with, it’s an opportunity to try to find common ground and not take cheap shots.”
This isn’t the first time Newsom, who is widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, has come under fire as he seeks to distance himself from some of Democrats’ more unpopular positions.
Earlier this month, debate sparked when the governor broke with his party on whether biological males should participate in women’s sports, marking a reversal from his prior positioning on transgender athletes. Newsom’s administration spent roughly $5 million on programs supporting youth transgenderism between 2022 and 2024, according to an analysis by the Washington Examiner.
California Democrats, including state Sen. Scott Wiener, called Newsom’s comments “devastating and depressing.” The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus reacted to the news by releasing a statement saying they were “profoundly sickened and frustrated” by Newsom’s “anti-transgender” stance.
“Sometimes Gavin Newsom goes for the Profile in Courage, sometimes not,” Assemblymember Chris Ward and state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, the caucus’s respective chairman and vice chairwoman, wrote.
“We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks. All students deserve the academic and health benefits of sports activity and until Donald Trump began obsessing about it, playing on a team consistent with one’s gender has not been a problem since the standard was passed in 2013,” the pair continued.
It was during a podcast episode with guest and conservative media personality Charlie Kirk that Newsom revealed his newly centrist position on transgender sports, with his comments coming after Democrats’ stance on transgender policy turned out to be a critical weakness during the 2024 presidential election.
Following his appearance on the podcast, Kirk warned Republicans that Newsom is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who is attempting to hide his true colors ahead of a possible presidential run.
“One thing I learned in my podcast experience: The governor isn’t a joke. He has a shark’s instincts and is hoping that voters will have a goldfish’s memory,” Kirk wrote in an op-ed. “He knows his current record can’t win him the White House, and so he’s trying to rewrite what that record is. The conservatives he speaks with in the weeks to come shouldn’t let him.”
However, Newsom has defended his comments on transgender sports from criticism, saying his positioning “wasn’t some grand design.”
He’s “been struggling” with biological males participating in female sports “for some time,” the governor told the Los Angeles Times during a recent interview. ”I mean, we’ve been exploring this for a couple years quietly behind the scenes, and we … couldn’t land,” he added.
CHARLIE KIRK WARNS GOP ABOUT ‘CALCULATED’ NEWSOM AFTER PODCAST APPEARANCE
Newsom said that the “judgment” from the Left has made him “actually start to believe the critique from the Right a little bit more” about Democratic intolerance.
“I always thought the right overstated how judgmental my party was, and I’ll be candid with you, I have a deeper understanding now of that critique than I ever, ever, ever understood,” he continued.