As the Democratic Party continues to sort through what went wrong in the 2024 election, it appears as though one prominent voice is already gearing up for 2028.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent shockwaves through political and media circles earlier this month when he launched his new podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, and welcomed Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk as his first guest. He then followed it up with sit downs with Michael Savage and Steve Bannon, which have all led to plenty of headlines and plenty of controversy.
Megyn has expressed concern about the service these prominent MAGA voices are providing to Newsom as he sets his sights on a national election and tries to present himself as more centrist. And on Tuesday’s show, Kirk joined her to explain why he agreed to go on and what he hoped to prove with the appearance.
The Interview
Kirk admitted that, by agreeing to be Newsom’s inaugural guest, he really wasn’t sure what he was walking into, but he saw an opportunity. “Being the first guest, we consider that to be a pretty cool opportunity to be able to sit down and disagree and even debate, at times, with the governor of the [country’s] largest state with the fifth largest economy in the world,” he shared.
Kirk said he was told there would be no “gotcha questions” and was surprised by the degree of glad-handing when he arrived on set. In what turned out to be one memorable moment of the interview, Newsom told him that his son is a big fan and wanted to skip school to attend the taping. He didn’t let him, which led Kirk to quip, “You canceled school for like two years, what’s one more day?”
The most controversial part of the sit-down, however, came when Kirk and Newsom discussed the issue of men in women’s sports. The governor admitted – much to the dismay of leftist pundits and politicians – that he does believe there is a fairness issue, but he stopped short of promising any policy changes in the Golden State.
While Kirk gave “credit” to Newsom and his team for being willing to have the discussion and not editing the trans part out, he said his goal was to “expose” the governor and he believes he did just that. “If you look at Gavin Newsom’s numbers… they are down dramatically as far as favorability, trust, and authenticity since he started this podcast. It is not going very well for him in terms of how people view him,” Kirk explained. “So for that, I will say that I think we have done a good job of exposing him as the synthetic fraud that he actually is.”
The Pros and Cons
It is true that the reaction to Newsom’s choice of guests and topics of conversation have been poorly received by the left and recent poll numbers do not look good for the 57 year old, but Megyn is still wary of anything that could help prep him for higher office.
“You did a great job and, of course, made news… by getting him to admit that it is unfair to allow boys to compete against girls in girls sports… You were your typical on point, substantive self, and he couldn’t resist giving you what is such an obvious point,” Megyn noted. “But I don’t like to see it because my own feeling is this guy is in training for 2028… He needs practice… and we should not be helping him.”
Megyn noted that Newsom did not prove to be a strong debater when he went toe-to-toe with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Hannity a couple years ago, which means he needs to up his game. “The more times he sits across from Charlie Kirk, and Steve Bannon, and any of our sort of lead fighters, the better he will get, the better he will do, and the more he will understand how to appeal to people who are more right wing or independently minded but on the right,” she continued. “He doesn’t deserve our help, and we shouldn’t be in there giving him the assist.”
Kirk said he understood the concern but doesn’t see it the same way. “I don’t think that Gavin Newsom is getting his spring training to become a presidential candidate. I think he is actually being exposed as someone will not be able to get through a Democrat primary,” he shared. “He is making a very calculated bet that no one is going to remember that he was a failed governor; that no one is going to remember that he literally has no accomplishments; that he is going to try to run to the middle and to be able to take his Democrat base for granted.”
In reality, Kirk said the Dems are proving they are “not moderating” on any of the issues that led to their losses in 2024, so he believes Newsom’s podcast project “might be ending [his] presidential ambitions, not preparing him for his presidential ambitions.”
Tens of millions of people ended up tuning into the interview (a far greater number than any of Newsom’s subsequent episodes), and Kirk said the feedback he received after gives him hope. “Sitting down and being able to educate… well over 30 or 40 million people… I think, was really helpful,” he explained. “I got text messages from people in the tech world, CEOs, some of the wealthiest people on the planet, also just rank and file normies… people that aren’t exactly as politically engaged… that were… persuaded far more by the presentation of ideas that I presented… than what Gavin did.”
The Right Approach?
In Kirk’s view, the interview has done Newsom more harm than good by aggravating the left and exposing himself to the right. With that said, he agreed with Megyn that fellow conservatives and MAGA supporters should tread carefully. “[They should do it] only if they come after it in the way that, I think, we did without being overly braggadocious,” he said. “I think we were polite, but we were incredibly disagreeable and firm and we were willing to challenge him and ask him questions about issues and get him on the record.”
If others do follow suit, Kirk encouraged them to pick up where he left off. “It is not just kind of a bro session of like, ‘hey, so good that Republicans and Democrats are talking.’ I don’t think that is helpful for anybody,” he added. “The next time someone sits down with him, ask him for an update. ‘Hey, Gov. Newsom, you said with Charlie Kirk that you think it’s not fair, but you have yet to do anything about it… Why haven’t you done something about it? Are you just doing this podcast for clicks to try to make yourself seem more moderate?”
With that approach, Kirk believes the damage will be done. “He is becoming more unpopular with his own base. He is becoming less trusted with moderates. People look at him as a synthetic and as a fake, and I have no regrets,” he concluded. “If Republican guest after Republican guest goes with that kind of attitude – be polite and firm and hold him to the standard that he is setting on his own show – that will collapse his political ambitions even further.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Kirk by tuning in to episode 1,029 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.