Gavin Newsom is for He/Him

What Newsom is missing about authenticity, even as he dominates multiple news cycles

The digital currency of the modern political campaign is authenticity and the 2024 election exposed Gavin Newsom’s presidential investments. He played Democratic Party loyalist, supporting Joe Biden until he left the race. He supported Kamala Harris as his replacement, despite no votes being cast for her.

But it was all a ruse. The California governor wasn’t for she/her. When Trump’s transgender ad dropped, so did Newsom from the airwaves. If Kamala was for they/them, the Governor of California saw the moment for what it was for he/him and said barely anything. Never get in the way of your (future) opponent imploding.

The Pivot

There is a grand tradition of politicians changing their minds on issues, large and small. Our once and current President of the United States was once a Democratic donor and pro-choice before he expertly merchandised his political brand and ended federal protections to abortion access.

But Trump was always a last-name merchandiser and once he reached the bottom of the escalator at Trump Tower, he subcontracted the choice of future Supreme Court appointments to the right people on the Right, so it was no surprise when Roe fell, even though it felt like it in real-time.

Newsom, however, was a solid liberal brand. As Mayor of San Francisco, he issued the first gay marriages and parlayed that into a successful run for governor.

No one would ever look at Newsom’s record, his stay-at-home COVID instructions while dining out, or his slicked back hair and think, yes, that’s Real America.

In the aftermath of the 2024 election, what did Newsom do? The Los Angeles fire crisis became an opportunity for him to “work” with the Trump administration. But it seems like what he was really doing was taking notes. As the fires receded from top news, Gavin was about to make his own — but before that, some homework was needed.

Newsom seemingly read all of the postmortems. He learned:

1. Voters want authenticity

2. MAGA podcasts have reach

3. Woke is bad

Then Newsom did:

1. Show how much of a “regular guy” he is

2. Start a podcast featuring MAGA guests

3. Run from Latinx and trans kids

The Evidence

Did it work? If we go with the tonnage of think pieces (yes, I get the irony, this is one of those) then Newsom has already won his second term as President of the United States and is getting fitted for Mt. Rushmore.

But here’s the problem: primary voters. He just alienated virtually all of them. Look at who he had on his podcast recently:

1. Charlie Kirk, who is writing about not just painting over Black Lives Matter in DC, but ending the the symbol of that movement, George Floyd, and any monuments or murals of him or some of his last words, “I can’t breathe.”

2. Steve Bannon, who supports the far-right National front in France, is a conspiracy theorist not the least of which is that Donald Trump won the 2020 election Let’s not forget, went to jail for defrauding donors. The ADL summary has it all and more.

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For what it’s worth — and it’s worth less than zero in a Democratic primary — both Kirk and Bannon had nice things to say about MAGA Newsom. The problem is he isn’t going to be running to be Vice President J.D. Vance’s or Donald Trump Jr.’s running mate.

The Democratic primary ads against Newsom are going to be brutal and, let’s face it, painfully obvious. Just put him with these guys on TV and play omnibus music, maybe something from Severance. Narrator: Gavin Newsom platformed these guys you hate. End card, end of campaign.

Need more? Here is Newsom talking about how he never used the term Latinx while in office and the proof that he did

How about the group that is championed by new Gen Z voters? Not Hamas, trans kids who want to play sports. Almost one in seven (15.9%) that generation’s adults identify as transgender and, back of the envelope, 99.9% are Democrats. What we do know is that 86% of LGBTQ+ voters chose Harris in 2024.

They hate Newsom now, and with good reason. He’s a phony.

Authenticity Rules

Gavin’s pivot to he/him is a reminder that national campaigns, even nascent ones, are MRI for the soul. The problem is you can’t sever yourself from your primary motive: winning. He sees a lane for someone who is “moderate” but that’s not the story of his career.

This is what happens when someone sees the political environment and realizes he’s not fit for it, so he retrofits himself to it. But modern voters are smarter than that. They will not listen to the think pieces about how smart this move is. They will see a phony, someone who left his authentic self behind in the pursuit of an office, not to help others but to help himself. These people lose, and they should.

Gavin will, and on Super Tuesday he will be on the dais raising someone else’s arms, hoping for a cabinet position — if Trump hasn’t eliminated it first.

Michael Cohen, is the author of the book Modern Political Campaigns, president of Cohen Research Group and a 30-year veteran of the polling industry. He writes The Level regularly for 24sight News, analyzing polling and campaign trends with a keen eye and level-headed approach.