Politics
Commentary: With his new podcast, Gavin Newsom may just talk himself to political death
Gavin Newsom — eyes on the White House, vision firmly fixed on his future — is leaning once more into the self-promotion business.
One might imagine his hands are quite full these days being California governor, what with the state reeling from one of the costliest, most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history. Two months after the hellfires began in Southern California, each day brings fresh pain.
But it’s a free country and Newsom is well past the age of consent, so clearly there’s no stopping him.
Pity, that.
The Democrat’s latest aggrandizing me-hicle, er, vehicle, is just about the last thing the world needs right now: another politically themed podcast. The Warholian notion that someday everyone would be world-famous for 15 minutes obviously failed to reckon with the advent of Substack, TikTok, podcasts and the like. Some personalities make that 15 minutes seem like an eternity.
Regardless, “This is Gavin Newsom” is now a thing, which should not to be mistaken for another of his extracurricular activities, “Politickin.’ ” That gig features Newsom, former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch and sports agent Doug Hendrickson in yet another podcast feedin’ the hunger of those with a bottomless appetite for the state’s voluble chief executive.
Announcin’ his latest moonlighting endeavor, Newsom told reporters, “I want to engage people that often I engage with in private and make public those conversations.”
That generosity and willingness to share has yet to extend to Newsom’s breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, his step count or daily hygiene, as the governor’s kindness seems to know at least some bounds.
But just wait. A memoir, Newsom’s third book, is in the works.
His new podcast debuted last week, featuring the MAGA megaphone and provocateur Charlie Kirk, and it immediately drew the nationwide attention Newsom desperately craves, and then some. His statement that transgender girls and women participating in female sports leagues is “deeply unfair” produced screaming headlines — this from a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ rights, no less — and acres of analyses from the political commentariat and those inhabiting social media.
The collision of sports and gender is sure to be litigated at length as Democrats wander the wilderness in the months and years leading up to the 2028 presidential campaign. Newsom has laid down his marker.
What was less noted after that first episode was the fawning and flattery — “Your success!” “Your influence!” — Newsom bestowed upon Kirk during an hour-plus, velvet-gloved belly rub.
Kirk has a history of making false and outlandish statements, echoing President Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being stolen, promoting antisemitic tropes and stoking racial discord, among other ingredients of his political celebrityhood.
You’d hardly know it, however, listening to his chummy chat with the starry-eyed Newsom. It is quite commendable to hold a civil conversation with those who have different political viewpoints. As a deeply polarized culture and society, we could use a lot more of that dialogue.
But congeniality is one thing. It’s another to sound as though you’ve been co-opted, yukking it up and nodding along to Kirk’s worshipful treatment of Trump, his anti-public health views and expressions of right-wing victimhood. In the words of one national Democratic strategist, who did not want to be identified criticizing the governor, “It seemed like the two were brothers in arms.”
Or at least awfully good buds.
The second installment of Newsom’s vanity project, released this week, featured an amiable chat with Michael Savage, the Marin County-based broadcaster, conservative agitator and author who has a history replete with anti-gay, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim remarks.
You’d have to listen closely, however, to discern any major differences as Newsom chortled his way through a discussion of taxes, immigration, Savage’s climate-change denialism, his celebration of Tucker Carlson and the discrimination that Savage said he’s suffered as a white male.
“I agree,” Newsom said when Savage related a trip on Air Force One during which he was served a hot dog, and suggested Trump was actually a “very sensitive guy to other people.”
Never mind the insults the puerile president constantly dishes out, the demeaning nicknames he assigns — like “Newscum” — or the president’s heartless approach to governing. At least, Savage noted, it was a kosher dog.
“This Is Gavin Newsom” is full-on cringe. With its forced bonhomie, the show is neither informative nor engaging. It delivers all the pleasures of a bad office party.
Cuddling up to the Charlie Kirks of the world and truckling to the Michael Savages — “you’re the most entertaining person and personality … and storyteller on the radio!” Newsom gushed — is also a strange way to try to build national support among fellow Democrats.
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. 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.
Podcast, ad nauseam.
Politics
Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week
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President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Washington next week.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump was asked if he intends to meet with Machado after the U.S. struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a national flag during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration, in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)
This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who the U.S. president stated “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead.
According to reports, Trump’s refusal to support Machado was linked to her accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump believed he deserved.
But Trump later told NBC News that while he believed Machado should not have won the award, her acceptance of the prize had “nothing to do with my decision” about the prospect of her leading Venezuela.
Politics
California sues Trump administration over ‘baseless and cruel’ freezing of child-care funds
California is suing the Trump administration over its “baseless and cruel” decision to freeze $10 billion in federal funding for child care and family assistance allocated to California and four other Democratic-led states, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed jointly by the five states targeted by the freeze — California, New York, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado — over the Trump administration’s allegations of widespread fraud within their welfare systems. California alone is facing a loss of about $5 billion in funding, including $1.4 billion for child-care programs.
The lawsuit alleges that the freeze is based on unfounded claims of fraud and infringes on Congress’ spending power as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is just the latest example of Trump’s willingness to throw vulnerable children, vulnerable families and seniors under the bus if he thinks it will advance his vendetta against California and Democratic-led states,” Bonta said at a Thursday evening news conference.
The $10-billion funding freeze follows the administration’s decision to freeze $185 million in child-care funds to Minnesota, where federal officials allege that as much as half of the roughly $18 billion paid to 14 state-run programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent. Amid the fallout, Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a third-party audit and announced that he will not seek a third term.
Bonta said that letters sent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announcing the freeze Tuesday provided no evidence to back up claims of widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in California. The freeze applies to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Social Services Block Grant program and the Child Care and Development Fund.
“This is funding that California parents count on to get the safe and reliable child care they need so that they can go to work and provide for their families,” he said. “It’s funding that helps families on the brink of homelessness keep roofs over their heads.”
Bonta also raised concerns regarding Health and Human Services’ request that California turn over all documents associated with the state’s implementation of the three programs. This requires the state to share personally identifiable information about program participants, a move Bonta called “deeply concerning and also deeply questionable.”
“The administration doesn’t have the authority to override the established, lawful process our states have already gone through to submit plans and receive approval for these funds,” Bonta said. “It doesn’t have the authority to override the U.S. Constitution and trample Congress’ power of the purse.”
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan and marked the 53rd suit California had filed against the Trump administration since the president’s inauguration last January. It asks the court to block the funding freeze and the administration’s sweeping demands for documents and data.
Politics
Video: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
new video loaded: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
transcript
transcript
Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
President Trump did not say exactly how long the the United states would control Venezuela, but said that it could last years.
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“How Long do you think you’ll be running Venezuela?” “Only time will tell. Like three months. six months, a year, longer?” “I would say much longer than that.” “Much longer, and, and —” “We have to rebuild. You have to rebuild the country, and we will rebuild it in a very profitable way. We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need. I would love to go, yeah. I think at some point, it will be safe.” “What would trigger a decision to send ground troops into Venezuela?” “I wouldn’t want to tell you that because I can’t, I can’t give up information like that to a reporter. As good as you may be, I just can’t talk about that.” “Would you do it if you couldn’t get at the oil? Would you do it —” “If they’re treating us with great respect. As you know, we’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now.” “Have you spoken to Delcy Rodríguez?” “I don’t want to comment on that, but Marco speaks to her all the time.”
January 8, 2026
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