Gavin Newsom fawned over right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk on his new podcast as he admitted his son is a ‘huge fan’ of the conservative.
The Governor of California’s surprising remarks came on the first interview of his podcast ‘This is Gavin Newsom’, where he pledged to speak with people he ‘disagreed with’ such as Kirk.
But the first episode saw several moments where Newsom offered more moderate, conservative-friendly views, which he admitted were views shared by his 13-year-old son, Hunter.
He told Kirk that the night before their interview when he was putting his son to bed, the teen told him: ‘No dad, what time is Charlie gonna be here?’
‘I’m like, dude you’re in school tomorrow,’ Newsom continued, saying his son declared that morning he was skipping school to meet the Republican commentator.
‘He literally would not leave the house… but he’s not here for good reason.’
Kirk responded with a jibe at Newsom’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying: ‘Well, you cancelled school for like two years, what’s one day?’
The admission from Newsom came as he also broke ranks with liberals earlier in the podcast as he condemned transgender athletes’ inclusion in women’s sports, branding it ‘deeply unfair.’
After remarking that his teenage son hoped to meet Kirk and was a fan of his work, Newsom said it was indicative of the swing to the right seen among young Americans and the impact that figures like Kirk have had in recent years.
‘The point is, you are making a damn dent,’ Newsom said.
Kirk is best known on social media platforms for sharing his combative exchanges with woke students on college campuses, which Newsom said he ‘loves watching.’
‘And clearly that’s expressed by my 13-year-old son,’ he said.
Kirk said he was inviting the teen to a Turning Point event in Florida in the summer.
Newsom said hearing about youngsters like his own son moving to the right have him ‘concerned’, because as a Democrat, ‘we’re getting clobbered.’
‘You’ve figured something out,’ he added.
Kirk responded: ‘It’s not me, the president first deserves the credit.’
‘You were at this before Trump was Trump,’ Newsom countered. ‘He was a Democrat back in 2011 and 2012.’
Kirk said: ‘The president deserves huge credit, and I just have to say that as an obligatory thing, because without him our movement would be small.
‘And you can appreciate that in politics, you have to appreciate the person who is the catalyst… it was a cultural moment that just opened us up.’
Newsom faced backlash when he recently launched his podcast as he was criticized for his handling of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
Many have seen the podcast as Newsom’s way of positioning himself for a presidential run in 2028, which he is widely expected to do as he is term limited as California Governor in 2026.
Inviting one of America’s most famous conservatives on to speak and risking the wrath of transgender activists indicates Newsom’s desire to position himself as a centrist who’d appeal to moderate conservatives.
In response to his exchange with Kirk, one conservative X user commented: ‘Why is Charlie participating in the 2028 Gavin Newsom Rebranding Tour? I don’t get it.’
Another branded the podcast ‘The Gavin ‘I’m a fake reasonable Democrat who talks to all sides and hope everyone forgets my actual record so I can attempt to inhabit the non-crazy lane of the party for election season 2028′ Tour.’
However, some praised both Newsom and Kirk for their civil conversation above the often-hostile fray of politics, while others poked fun at the liberal governor’s confession that he is raising a young conservative.
‘Any politician willing to do long-form discussions in new media like this deserve some kudos,’ one viewer remarked. ‘The ones who hide from it do so for a reason.’
Another quipped: ‘There’s no way his son loves Charlie Kirk and likes his dad at the same time.’
While the Golden State is in the midst of recovering from the horrific wildfire disaster, which left at least 29 people dead and more than 18,000 structures destroyed, the Democratic governor was accused of having his focus on other issues, as he has promised that his new venture will be ‘anything but the ordinary ‘politician’ podcast.’
‘I’m gonna be talking to people directly who I disagree with, as well as people I look up to, but more importantly than anything else, I’ll be talking to you – the listeners,’ Newsom said as he announced the podcast launch.
He then touched on pressing issues Americans are facing right now, including the high price of eggs, the ‘real impacts’ around tariffs, the ‘power’ behind President Donald Trump’s executive orders, and ‘what’s really going on inside of DOGE.’
‘We already know what our disagreements are with the MAGA movement. I want to understand what the motivations are, the legitimacy of these motivations, and just really understand where people are coming from,’ Newsom told MediaIte.
‘They are influential – they are. They explain more things in more ways on more days about what’s going on, and if we’re not trying to understand their motivations, we will be victims of their motivations.’