Image Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor / Getty 
(LifeSiteNews) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is up to his old tricks.
During an interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash this week, Newsom attempted to yet again distance himself from the more radical elements on the political left.
“The Democratic Party needs to be — dare I say — more culturally normal,” Newsom said. “Less prone to spending (a) disproportionate amount of time on pronouns and identity politics; more focused on table talk issues — things that really matter … electricity bills and childcare costs.”
Newsom is the odds-on favorite to be the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2028. His moderation on LGBT issues as of late is a clear attempt to reposition the left — himself primarily — as being less antagonistic toward Christians and moderates in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia who will decide the presidential race.
But as LifeSite reporter Peter Michaels wrote last month, Newsom’s drift toward the center is a ruse. His track record clearly indicates exactly where his heart is on gender and other social issues.
In 2022, Newsom designated California the country’s first “sanctuary” state for gender-confused children while also approving the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021. The Act requires public schools to have free menstrual products in at least one male bathroom.
AB 727, meanwhile, requires contact information for the radical pro-LGBT Trevor Project Suicide Hotline to be placed on public-school student ID cards. The Newsom-approved Assembly Bill 108 similarly speeds up the legal process for minors who want to change their name.
Newsom has backed the LGBT agenda in other ways, too. Notably, he signed the “California Freedom to Read Act,” which prohibits the removal of books from libraries that contain“inclusive and diverse perspectives” or may “include sexual content.” The move essentially bans local communities from voting to keep out pro-LGBT content from libraries.
Newsom also sided — at least indirectly — with a male high school athlete posing as a female named AB Hernandez. Hernandez has won multiple state titles in recent years, causing outcry from parents as well as competitors. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) sued California for refusing to keep gender-confused athletes like Hernandez out of female sports.
Newsom has desperately tried as of late to distance himself from his blatant support of the LGBT agenda. During an interview with now-deceased conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in March 2025, Newsom admitted that gender-confused male athletes playing against women is not a matter of equality. “I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair,” he said.
During a sit-down with left-wing New York Times contributor Ezra Klein in December, Newsom reiterated his supposed belief that allowing males to compete with girls is something that “no one wants to hear about” but that he still wants to be a champion of gender-confused Americans.
“I want to see trans kids. I have a trans godson. There’s no governor that’s done more pro-trans legislation than I have. And no one has been a stronger advice for the LGBT community,” he said.
While speaking with CNN this week, Newsom continued his apology tour by admitting that he has “fallen prey to” prioritizing liberal cultural issues over economic concerns shared by most Americans. This is the latest in his, dare I say, transition into a moderate Democrat.
The issue now is whether Newsom can keep the far left happy so they will turn out to vote for him while at the same time appealing to a broad range of voters.
While trying to thread the needle on the This is Gavin Newsom podcast last month, Newsom struggled mightily when pressed by Ben Shapiro to explain how a boy can become a girl. Ultimately, Newsom tried to minimize the issue by saying that the percentage of Americans who are LGBT is so small that it’s not something that he thinks about all that much.
If Newsom continues to spurn the LGBT lobby, expect someone like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to step in and scoop them up, making her a possible vice-presidential candidate. Pete Buttigieg, who identifies as a homosexual, likely won’t embrace their cause, paradoxically enough. Last time he sought the presidency, he ran as a moderate who was quoting Bible verses on the campaign trail while trying to appeal to independents and moderates. Ultimately, he failed in his efforts, but now that the country is firmly moving beyond woke issues thanks to Trump’s re-election in 2024, not only Buttigieg but other Democrats will be forced to likely follow in Newsom’s footsteps toward the middle if they want to find themselves in the Oval Office come January 20, 2029.
