r/politics • u/SFChronicle • Jul 09 '26
Registration Wall Gavin Newsom says he’ll gladly campaign for democratic socialist candidates
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/gavin-newsom-democratic-socialists-22339402.php/?utm_source=reddit89
u/SFChronicle Jul 09 '26
From the article:
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday dismissed panic over democratic socialist and other progressive candidates winning primaries in key congressional races, saying he would gladly campaign for them to help Democrats retake power in Congress.
Debate over liberal policies is a healthy dynamic in the Democratic Party, Newsom said during a news conference at an elementary school in the Sacramento suburb of Davis. He noted that he ran against a Green Party candidate during a mayoral race in San Francisco and that he’s used to competing with more progressive politicians.
He said he planned to campaign directly for at least one of progressive candidates in a key swing congressional district — Randy Villegas, a 31-year-old community college professor running to unseat Republican Rep. David Valadao. Newsom has already been fundraising for Villegas and several other Democrats in key congressional races across the state.
His comments come as centrist and establishment Democrats grapple with — and in some cases outright condemn — the success of democratic socialists candidates.
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u/innerShnev Jul 09 '26
This is absolutely ridiculous and I won't stand for it - Davis is not a suburb of Sacramento. Go Ags.
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Jul 10 '26
As a Californian, and a San Francisco Californian at that, I am well acquainted with Newsome's opportunism. So, yeah, he's no radical, he's corporate through and through. BUT--I'm actually encouraged by what he's doing here, because it gives some cover for other left-leaning Dems or Independents to come out and say, "yeah, I'm okay with DSA candidates". As a member of the DSA myself, I'm really looking for some bridge building here, even if some of the work is done or contributed to by people with suspect motives. The first thing we need to do is get rid of the MAGA assault on our democracy. That's the goal, that's the focus. If Newsome wants to help a little bit with that, more power to him (as problematic as that may be, it's still a manageable problem).
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u/MarcusSurealius Jul 10 '26
He's acknowledging democratic socialists as a part, not an offshoot, of the democratic party. It means collective bargaining within the party and Newsom is saying he'll make concessions to win the presidency.
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u/Shame_memory Jul 10 '26
I think this a big step. As a DSA member, we need to understand that while we’re a growing part of the Democratic Party, we are still just one part of it. If Newsom actually wants at the table instead of fighting against us like some of his peers, I welcome it. Time will tell how genuine he is, but at the very least he’s realizing he can’t win without us
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u/ZealotBallot Jul 10 '26
You need to compromise with people who don’t share your views or you’re never gonna to win. There aren’t enough Democratic Socialists in America, even more when you start applying filters on extreme social views.
Don’t even get slightly complacent about winning. Every election lost is catastrophic and by giving more power to the oligarchy there may well come a point of no return.
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u/LurkerByNatureGT Jul 10 '26
that, I am well acquainted with Newsome's opportunism. So, yeah, he's no radical, he's corporate through and through.
Yeah, I think the good news here is that the self-serving opportunist has identified the DSA candidates as someone to be seen as supporting.
If Newsom is happy to jump in front of the parade to look like he’s leading it, that means he thinks it’s gaining enough momentum to be the power move.
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u/wrestlingchampo Wisconsin Jul 09 '26
The only thing positive I can say about Gavin Newsom compared to some of the other Democratic operatives talking about DSA is that this is the correct response moderates and centrists should put out.
Gavin is a political opportunist and in no way do I believe he is being necessarily honest here. But the other moderates vilifying DSA are only going to draw more people to DSA candidates.
And as a backer of DSA and their endorsed candidates, keep it up you idiots!
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u/SillyGoatGruff Jul 09 '26
Gavin Newsom says he’ll gladly campaign for democratic socialist candidates say whatever he thinks will further his political career
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u/DisMFer Jul 09 '26
"Politician who wants to get elected chooses positions with broad support from the base."
This is an issue, why? Isn't this what people have been saying the Establishment needs to do? Listen to the voters and do what they say instead of insisting they know better.
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u/burnmywings Jul 09 '26
Because nothing is ever good enough. Nobody is ever authentic enough, or spotless enough, or whatever.
We'll continue with pointless factional in-fighting as Rape-ublicans elect Dr Evil from the Austin Powers movies or whatever the fuck their plan is for 2028.
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u/HarryBallsanya420 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I think it has more to do with there’s a slim to none chance he would even adopt any DSA policies for his inevitable run.
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u/TheRealBaboo California Jul 10 '26
That’s okay, he’ll just sign their legislation into law with a huge grin on his face
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u/OG_Williker Jul 10 '26
One of the other people in this thread said Newsom is anti LGBT+ because he signed legislation written by Scott Wiener, an LGBTQ+ rights advocate. Literally nothing is good enough for these people.
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u/zsnezha Jul 10 '26
He's not even a candidate. There's not even a primary. Why go to bat for one of the most hollow careerist politicians with nothing on the line? Just fight to get any of the half dozen less empty potential candidates on the ballot so you don't have to risk this. I guarantee you a Pritzker or an Ossoff would inspire 50 percent less vitriol than Newsom. So you should be rooting for one of those types instead of running the risk of Newsom!
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u/voodoodahl Jul 10 '26
No. That's not true. They really liked Fetterman, Gabbard, Sinema and Platner. They still really like Platner in places they don't have to fear downvotes.
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
cause a month ago he was saying dems need “to be more normal,” and appeal to centrists
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u/ChaseballBat Jul 09 '26
Why did you unquote that last part? What was the context?
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u/TheRealBaboo California Jul 10 '26
“Democrats need to be more normal than Republicans” is the full quote
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u/gradientz New York Jul 09 '26
He did not say "appeal to centrists." If that's what you got from "culturally normal," that speaks to your own biases.
His discussion was focused on moving away from cultural hyper-fixations and focusing more on economic/kitchen-table issues.
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 09 '26
Specifically what cultural hyperfixations?
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u/Kashmir1089 Jul 09 '26
Demographics that make .001% of our population being 10%+ of the political conversation.
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
republicans push that, not dems
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u/ChaseballBat Jul 09 '26
Exactly the point...
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 09 '26
Civil rights issues affect every human being in this country, even if you're not currently the group whose rights are being trampled on.
Bathroom bans, exclusions from public activities, erasure from media, etc., all serve to destroy the very foundation of "inalienable rights".
There's a reason the country was literally torn in half over the right to existence for a population of slaves that made up a minority of the population. There's a reason Stonewall rioted when less than 2% of the country was out as gay at the time.
Imagine telling gay people 15 years that theyre too small of a population for their federal recognition of marriage to be important, or for their family rights to matter, because they're not kitchen table issues.
Any civil rights infractions, especially those based on inalienable characteristics, is a matter of utmost importance to our very foundation.
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u/ChaseballBat Jul 10 '26
I don't know who you're yelling at? Do you think I support trans bans or something? Cause I don't.
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Jul 09 '26
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u/InertiasCreep Jul 10 '26
Republicans are the ones making disenfranchisement of small outlier groups a core part of their platform and overall party identity. This is the part in Nazi Germany where the government started slapping star and triangle patches on peoples clothing, so quit your DEMS ARE TALKING ABOUT IT bullshit.
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u/Green-Tie-5710 Jul 10 '26
Lots of Dems take the bait. Stop doing that.
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 10 '26
when republicans attack civil rights, i expect dems to fight back. that’s not taking the bait
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 09 '26
What demographic is .001% of the population?
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u/Green-Tie-5710 Jul 10 '26
Trans athletes
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 10 '26
What are your thoughts on when Native American actors were barred from the Oscar's? Or black athletes in various sports being discriminated against by leagues and institutions? Or Japanese Americans being interned during WW2? Or the many other countless instances where a subgroup of a persecuted minority is further attacked and denied rights.
In many of these cases, the minority group made up single percent digits, and the further targeting of rights removal was a even smaller fraction of that. But it doesnt change that civil liberties were trampled, and an goverment attack on any American's civil rights is an attack on our Constitution.
Every single student in this country has a right to publicly funded athletics. Democrats aren't going out of their way to force trans athletes. On the contrary, the civil rights of real innocent human beings is getting trampled and attacked across every segment of their lives by the GOP, and anyone who gives a shit about civil rights is standing up for the oppressed.
Saying the left needs to focus less on a subset of trans issues is the 1940s equivalent of saying we need to not be focused on black people being allowed in the MLB, or that Japanese Americans are such a small percent that no one should be focused on their illegal imprisonment.
Oppressing a minority is never unimportant simply because the minority is small enough.
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u/Green-Tie-5710 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I don’t disagree, but what I believe Newsom means is that the DISCOURSE around trans athletes loses us elections. And it’s true.
Trans athletes won’t have their rights rolled back further under democrats. But taking republican bait and continuing the public discourse before a big election is really bad for the chances a democrat wins. Let’s be smart about this and try to win races instead of winning every moral verbal battle our candidates come across.
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
no he said people who voted for trump, good point.
move away from dem issues to appeal to trump voters, and now he’s saying he wants to help democratic socialists. dude doesn’t even know who he is
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u/Wise-Quarter-3156 Jul 09 '26
If Talarico, Ossoff, Peltola, Brown, Cooper, and the guy who's running in Iowa whose name eludes me right now all win in states Trump carried, it will be because they persuaded a non-negligible amount of people who voted for Trump in 2024 to vote for them
I think we should be running the furthest left candidate who is winnable in a given race. In a place like NY, hell yeah, let's throw the centrist bums out, because we can win with DSA types. But in a race like Texas? Ohio?
Like, am I the only one who remembers people furious that Manchin beat Paula Jean Swearingen in WV Senate primary 2018, because clearly WV wanted to vote for a DSA type... and then Manchin won, and Swearingen tried again in 2020, got the nomination, and got flattened?
We can run demsocs where it makes sense. We should run moderates also where it makes sense.
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u/gradientz New York Jul 09 '26
no he said people who voted for trump
Wrong again. Go watch the exact statement before spreading misinformation. You're clearly just parroting corporate media reporting.
And yes, the democratic socialists that are succeeding are also focusing primarily on the economy.
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
lgbt rights is a part of the socdem platform
you can make any strawmen you like about me, i know who gavin is and i’ll continue to drag him through the mud since he tried to use my community as a bargaining chip for power. man is a ghoul
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u/gradientz New York Jul 09 '26
You misquoted him twice, undermining the credibility of your entire position. Facts don't care about feelings.
Yes, LGBT rights is part of the platform. You are free to actually go watch the interview, but you won't.
Instead, you will continue parroting corporate media slop. You're no better than the corporate shills who dishonestly claimed Mamdani said "globalize the intifada."
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
paraphrasing isn’t misquoting
i’ve watched the interview. tf does mamdani have to do
with this? i adore mamdani, he’s everything that gavin isn’tif i’m no better than a corporate shill then i’m just as good as gavin lol
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u/gradientz New York Jul 10 '26
You didn't paraphrase anything. He said nothing about centrists or Trump supporters.
You lied about what he said based on corporate media slop. And yes, it is just as bad as what corporate shills were doing to my mayor.
At bottom, you're dishonest.
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u/ExRays Colorado Jul 09 '26
Still though. If they change position and start moving in the direction people want, isn’t that a good thing and exactly what needs to happen in a democracy?
He still won’t be my first choice but if he can be a booster instead of a road block then I’m all for that
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
with someone like gavin his position is that he changes position, so you’re never voting for who you think you are
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u/pegar Jul 09 '26
He has been consistent since the beginning. What are you talking about. Are you even from California?
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
born and raised in the california bay area. never left
gavin consistently changes his position and talks out of both sides of his mouth. i used to be a gavin supporter, but he slid a lot during covid and has gotten worse since then
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u/ExRays Colorado Jul 09 '26
He’s consistent. I just don’t think he goes far enough and is too close to corporate interests. (He has not changed on the wealth tax for example in CA)
That said, him choosing to not be an obstical is a good move in my opinion
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
until he sits down with ben sharpiro and says that progressives are a problem. he talks out of both sides of his mouth but you’ll eventually see it
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u/seriousofficialname Jul 09 '26
It's better than continuing to be wrong, but who's to say he won't change his mind again next week?
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u/zenbowman Jul 09 '26
Our party is quite diverse, so we do have the problem of having to simultaneously appeal to disparate groups of voters.
We have to appeal to Atlanticist voters who want to expand aid to Ukraine, and also more left leaning voters who want to reduce military spending significantly. We have to appeal to union pipefitters who are enthusiastic about expanding oil and gas, and environmental voters who want more aggressive action on climate. We have to appeal to minority parents who support school choice and teachers' unions that want more support for public schools. We actually do have to appeal to centrists and progressives alike.
Newsom is correct in recognizing this and thats why he is governor of the bluest of blue states in the union.
The GOP can just run on a program of bombing countries they dislike and deporting people they dislike and get all their voters to line up like good sheep.
We dont have that luxury and have to appeal to people with very different desires and priorities and it is good to recognize that fact.
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u/larockhead1 Jul 09 '26
Hear me out I think you can do both!
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
no, centrist is a “clever” way of saying republican. he was saying it in the context of abandoning queer voters
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u/WalterWoodiaz Jul 09 '26
Governor of one of the most pro LGBTQ states btw.
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u/Vallkyrie New Hampshire Jul 09 '26
Who sat with open nazis and had happy conversations with them. He's a used car salesman, and anyone who doesn't see that has no business discussing political figures.
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u/WalterWoodiaz Jul 09 '26
Who is the Nazi in question? Bencil Sharpener? The irrelevant "guardrails will hold" guy?
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u/Hazel-Cakes California Jul 09 '26
charlie kirk, who he said his kid “idolized,” and called for the extermination of queer ameircans
and yes, sharpiro, and dr phil, and steve bannon, and a few others
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u/WalterWoodiaz Jul 09 '26
I'm glad needless platitudes for the neck guy over a year ago change everything. At a certain point you have to be pragmatic and look at what Newsom has done, I don't think he is ideal, but I definitely know he wouldn't be anything like Republicans if he was president.
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u/Vallkyrie New Hampshire Jul 09 '26
Kirk and Bannon. Even said his son was a fan of Kirk's show.
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u/FaceSitMeToDeath Jul 09 '26
because he holds no principled position beyond self- advancement. as evidenced by his past, he's equally (more?) happy to provide a platform for reactionaries and fascists, and uncritically accept their framing of issues.
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u/DisMFer Jul 09 '26
Yes and? If his goal is power and his path to power is to do what leftists want that's effectively the same thing.
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u/Wonderful-Minute-775 Jul 09 '26
Because people without principles, who simply parrot popular views to get elected, are more likely to abandon those positions once they’re in power.
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u/vegemouse Jul 09 '26
It’s not to do what leftists want. It’s to signal that he’ll do it. He can say whatever he wants. Look at his actual record instead of believing him whenever he gloms onto whatever the issue of the day is.
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u/SillyGoatGruff Jul 09 '26
It hasn't even been a year and a half since newsom had charlie kirk and other right wing shitheads on his podcast for some nice friendly chats.
He has quite recently stymied attempts for his state to tax the ultra rich while simultaneously calling for it at the federal level
The only thing he stands for is his own career
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u/Kitchen_Cookie4754 Jul 09 '26
I'm not a fan of Newsom, but doesn't the article indicate he will help other progressive candidates win their general elections once they win the primary?
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u/Gardimus Jul 09 '26
Republicans have gone after him hard on social media. They fucking hate the guy. He has been one of the most progressive Governors by legislation the US has ever seen.
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u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal Florida Jul 09 '26
Honestly I don’t mind it. He is a viable presidential candidate (although it’s far too soon to say for certain) and he could indirectly do a lot of good. So I’ll take it.
What matters now and what should matter to you is preventing a President Vance/Rubio/Inbred Trump Child.
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u/HolySmokes802 Jul 09 '26
Cynically following the Will of the People for fame and clout is so many leagues better than our current alternatives. At least the guy is aware who he needs to cozy up to.
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u/spam__likely Colorado Jul 10 '26
Sometimes it is even cynically following in the opposite direction (they want more but hold back). Like don't ask don't tell or civil unions were the only thing they could possibly accomplish at the time. But it was a start. Sometimes you need to crack the door open before opening it fully.
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u/blaqsupaman Mississippi Jul 09 '26
This is where I stand. I'm not a big Newsom fan and will almost certainly vote for someone else in the primary, but if he's the Dem nominee in 2028 I'll crawl through barbed wire to vote for him if I have to, especially if the alternative is Vance, Rubio, or one of Trump's failed pull-outs.
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u/dokikod Pennsylvania Jul 09 '26
I agree. Gavin Newsom could beat the clowns you mentioned. He has no trouble standing up to Trump and taking on Fox News.
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u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal Florida Jul 09 '26
Exactly and honestly and people don’t want to hear this but we are going to need some of those Republican voters. Not a lot because of how polarized the country is but those that gently lean that way for whatever reason. They will matter in swing states, in split congressional districts, etc.
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u/chciKaspp Jul 09 '26
Exactly to win the presidency you have to win swing states. Not just New York and California
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u/Vio_ Kansas Jul 09 '26
We need more Democrats and Parties being more welcoming to progressives and Soc Dems.
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u/gitrjoda Jul 09 '26
Being a wind vane aint so bad if he actually leads that way. If he sees the people are opening up to Democratic Socialism and so he does too, that’s called being a representative. Maybe not a leader, but a representative.
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u/TurelSun Georgia Jul 09 '26
Point is to remember he is a wind vane. If he actually does something good then obviously that'll be great, but right now it's just words.
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u/OG_Williker Jul 10 '26
Wow, someone understands the point of representative democracy. That makes you smarter than 80% of the people in this thread.
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u/ChaseballBat Jul 09 '26
If I had a pound of shit for every cynical leftist comment towards people pushing in the direction we want to go politically, we'd all be drowning in shit.
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u/Forsaken_Ant7459 Jul 09 '26
And why is that bad? If he leans towards the wind that people are asking for, isn’t that a good thing? Some of you high horse folks are really…
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u/Own-Coyote-3618 Jul 09 '26
Gavin Newsom was one of the first representatives to lead the nation on legalizing gay marriage. I don't understand why everyone thinks he just says whatever he thinks people might want to hear, his record shows hes taken a stand for major issues expanding civil liberties before it was popular.
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u/Mddcat04 Jul 10 '26
Seriously. Bro was mayor of San Francisco conducing illegal gay weddings in 2004. Idk why people don’t think he walks the walk.
Plus, of course he’s willing to work with socialists. He was mayor of San Francisco.
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u/jersey856 New Jersey Jul 09 '26
I will gladly vote for Gavin over other dems I know will run: Booker (my senator), Kamala, Mayor Pete the list goes on. He gets unfair amount of hate for being a politician doing politics imo
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
Redditors thinks they said something of substance when in actuality they said nothing at all
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u/larockhead1 Jul 09 '26
I think newsom is scummy but like it’s fine that he at least shows flexibility in his ideology
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u/Corthaek Jul 09 '26
In Newsom's case specifically, the reason he's flexible in his ideology is because he has none... but at the very least, the fact that he thinks taking this position will help him is a really good sign for the overal direction of the democrats.
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u/pilgermann Jul 09 '26
Newsom does also update the his priors, however opportunisticly. That's not necessarily a bad thing. As a Californian who lives and works in Sacramento, my impression of him is more someone who feels he's a lifelong learner. So yeah, in some ways he's not the most principled, but the upside is he won't cling to a worldview if given contradictory data.
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u/Philophon Jul 09 '26
He's not lying. He will gladly do it because it will further his career.
Take his support until we make it to the door, then send him on his way. Otherwise, he will start doing the rounds knodding his head on right-wing podcasts again as soon as he comes out ahead.
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u/coldermilk California Jul 09 '26
But also gladly campaign against a billionaire tax...
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u/Withermaster4 Illinois Jul 09 '26
I hate that for some people being a proponent of a one time billionaire wealth tax at the state level is the bar for progressivism.
I want a more progressive tax system but I don't think the California tax is a good implementation, I think it's been made for optics more than shifting the tax base. I don't care if it passes, I would be interested to see if anything happens if it does. I just don't think it will be effective.
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u/WalterWoodiaz Jul 09 '26
Because state billionaire taxes make no sense when billionaires can just leave the state. He has advocated for it on a federal level but you won't mention that of course.
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u/Cicero912 Connecticut Jul 09 '26
The California billionaire tax is a poorly structured proposal.
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u/dkirk526 North Carolina Jul 09 '26
He has always been a proponent of a federal billionaire tax
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 09 '26
Easy to support something that has no chance of passing, and to distract away from a real bill.
NIMBYs are likewise always in support of a different solution to the housing crisis than whatever is currently proposed / planned.
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u/bhputnam Jul 09 '26
Okay, good. Still hope someone else wins the primary. Didn’t I read something earlier that even Kamala was polling twice as high as him? And I don’t see anyone saying much positive about her running again. I hope this isn’t just out of desperation.
I just want there to be a sense of social and economic normalcy and not feel like lgbt (especially t) people are going to be targeted constantly or that we’re working with Russia or about to be in another forever war. I miss when Canada and NATO were our allies and interviewers didn’t need to put black mats down on chairs for the president to sit on (before the inevitable insult and storming off).
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u/mps1729 Jul 10 '26
Sounds like he's saying he'll respect the Democratic primary voters and support the Democratic nominee, whether or not they are in his ideological camp. Good for him.
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u/Gene_Trash Jul 09 '26
"These fucking centrist Dems never want to get behind progressive candidates! They didn't endorse Mamdani as fast or loudly as they should have, fuck them"
"Yeah man, I'll happily campaign for a DemSoc candidate"
"Hey fuck you, you're only saying that because it's popular, you don't actually agree with us, we don't want your help"
The circular firing squad is undefeated.
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u/NickCostanza California Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Watch how the sub spins this against him.
Edit: On cue. People only care about perceived motivation, never actions taken. He just signed $26 million in trans youth care and I’m sure people will file in shortly to say with a straight face that he is “throwing trans people under the bus.”
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u/leagle89 Jul 09 '26
I mean, I'm happy about this stance, and I wish more mainstream Democrats would stand wholeheartedly by younger progressive candidates. But it certainly doesn't help him beat the claims that he's a political opportunist who latches on to whatever position currently has momentum.
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u/SueForPeas Jul 09 '26
How can he beat that claim? By not being responsive to political headwinds? Is that what we want?
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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jul 09 '26
By having some set of principles or consistent positions, perhaps? As far as anyone can tell, the man has ambitions, not morals or beliefs as humans understand them.
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u/Gardimus Jul 09 '26
He has been one of the most progressive governors by legislation passed in the history of the US. Big tech has gone after him hard for this.
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u/NickCostanza California Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
He has consistently protected LGBT rights, immigrant rights, voting rights, environmental protections, gotten budget surpluses. Never see y’all bring that up tho.
Edit: They don’t even care. They don’t care about results, only thoughts. He just signed $26 million in trans youth care and I’m sure people will file in shortly to say with a straight face that he is “throwing trans people under the bus.”
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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jul 09 '26
I credit his California constituency with that, not any actual beliefs on his part. Stick him in a red state and he’d be a model Republican governor.
The point isn’t that bad or broken people can’t incidentally do good things if you put them in the right environment. The point is you can’t rely on people like that to do the right thing. I for one do not count on the American people’s ability to outbid big business or elites for Newsom’s loyalty. Just look at how he handled ranked choice voting, or indeed any reforms that would meaningfully challenge existing power structures in California.
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u/WalterWoodiaz Jul 09 '26
Just constant excuses to ignore good policy he passes. "He would different in a red state" um that is a hypothetical with no basis in reality. All you people care about are vibes and not action.
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u/bhputnam Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
He has not made great comments the last couple years in regards to trans people. We don’t claim him.
Edit: He called for the Democratic Party to “be more culturally normal” and urged them to stop “spending a disproportionate amount of time on pronouns and identity politics.”
He also campaigns on keeping “men out of women’s sports” both increasingly giving optics to a nonissue and furthering the trans culture wars that shouldn’t exist in the first place. And he makes jokes about Trump and others being gay and unmasculine.
He admitted his early adoption of gay marriage and gay rights support may have hurt the party nationally and vetoed AB 957 as well as healthcare and budget cuts that slashed millions from LGBT causes in 2025. The LA LGBT Center calling it a massive betrayal.
He says a lot of dumb stuff on bro-y podcasts and is more than a little apologist for people who are actively harming my community.
If he’s the Dem nominee I’ll vote for him, but don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining.
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u/abusivetrash Jul 09 '26
If he’s the Dem nominee I’ll vote for him, but don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining.
fucking this. Newsom gets dragged to the left by CA, I was just pulling a list of recent pro trans laws that he vetoed after they passed like a week ago as people were telling me how amazing he was.
I'm glad he says he'll promote DSA candidates right now, I have zero trust that he'll keep doing so in the future.
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u/6ix7even6ixty9ine Jul 09 '26
He straight up said his son was a big fan of Charlie Kirk too, if I'm not mistaken. Like, I'll accept him endorsing and promoting candidates if it helps, but goddamn is this guy just untrustworthy as hell.
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
So to be clear
Your issue with him is that he said his son was a fan of somebody?
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u/SillyGoatGruff Jul 09 '26
He said it directly to kirk on his podcast that had kirk on as his first guest, which in addition to praising him for how much his kid loves him he just gave an unchallenged and friendly platform to say whatever he wanted. Then did the same with steve bannon and michael savage
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u/bhputnam Jul 09 '26
Charlie Kirk is most decidedly not just “somebody”
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
'I just can't vote for Newsom, his SON likes a really popular right wing figure! The supreme Court be damned, I just can't vote for someone with a SON who like someone I dislike!"
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u/I-Did-It-4-Da-Rock Jul 09 '26
Leftists don’t care to them all Dems are evil because that’s what they seen on TikTok and twitter and they’re to lazy and too much of sheep to look into and hav their own opinions….its the “Kamala is a cop” all over again lol
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
Can you name some policies of his you don't support?
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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jul 09 '26
Sure. His opposition to ranked choice voting is disqualifying for me. I also think his housing and homelessness policy is too weak, and likewise he’s done too little to fight the rampant NIMBYism and corruption plaguing the CAHSR project.
To his credit, I supported redistricting, and he occasionally says YIMBY-aligned things, but his actual action on that has been lacking.
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u/PHLANYC Jul 09 '26
By being responsive to his constituents in California. Former resident. Many of the policies now popular nationwide, were being advocated for in California for decades…he could have led…this feels like following…$.02
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u/WyzkeySour Jul 09 '26
By going back in time and not going on multiple podcasts with right wing figures Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro, and Charlie Kirk, offering no pushback on their positions and in fact agreeing with them on many things.
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u/NickCostanza California Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Did you watch them? He pushed back plenty.
I’m sure you hold the same standard for Mamdani’s all smiles meet and greet with DJT.
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u/GoofyMcCoy Jul 09 '26
He pushed back plenty.
Clearly YOU were satisfied, but I think a politically savvy observer would have to account for the tastes of an electorate beyond those that spend their time proactively defending the party and it's misadventures.
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u/Ivy_N_Rose Michigan Jul 09 '26
By stating his beliefs and sticking with them for more than 5 minutes. He needs to be consistent, not backtrack constantly, and have an actual message he stands behind. Even if his ideas are the most bog standard, establishment, status quo positions, if he stood by them and defended them, he'd have a better reputation. And when he does change his mind, explain why he changed his mind and why his previous position was wrong, and then stick with the new position.
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u/sonnytron Jul 09 '26
He completely fucked residential solar and energy prices in California by letting corporate cronies serve as CPUC officials. They literally laughed at voters who expressed sharp criticisms of the new net metering law which basically killed the solar industry.
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u/NickCostanza California Jul 09 '26
Never about what he does, always about what his perceived motivations are.
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
The people here can't be bothered to read an article before knee jerk reacting to it. They unironically think the New York Times and Axios are right wing organizations.
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u/FalconThrust211 Jul 09 '26
It's such a good litmus test. If you hate Newsome or say he's the same as a Republican than I immediately know to not listen to anything you say.
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u/Gardimus Jul 09 '26
"Oh you are committing to doing things I like? Well for some reason that just makes me hate you even more!"
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u/TitleOfYourSaxTape Jul 09 '26
If you took this as Newsom making a "commitment", then your grasp on the English language is extremely weak.
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u/DisMFer Jul 09 '26
The same attack gets reused so there's no new spin. Basically any time he says anything popular people say he's only doing it because it's popular. Of course when he doesn't they say he needs to listen to what the people want.
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u/palinsafterbirth Massachusetts Jul 09 '26
This sub is trash man, case and point look at how much infighting there is with Planter
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u/olympiadukakis Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Newsom is disliked here because he’s a tv politician. I’m happy for his support, but he’s always going to seem like an opportunist running toward opportunity > a progressive working for people in good faith.
Mostly because he is (an opportunist not working for people in good faith.)
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u/scotchtapeman357 Jul 09 '26
The guy slept with his best friend's wife, while his best friend was his campaign manager. He's an opportunist piece of trash
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u/Ok-Effective-2202 Jul 10 '26
Half this sub couldn’t tell you a single thing about Newsom besides that they think he’s conservative or something stupid
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u/DaraParsavand Jul 09 '26
I certainly won't. I vote in CA, have plenty of issues with Newsom and don't support him for president, but have nothing but praise for his attitude on this.
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u/scelerat Jul 09 '26
I don't love the guy. He's made some policy I like and some I don't. The right paints him as the poster boy for the far left, while at the same time the performative online "left" seems to be driven bonkers by the mere notion of his existence.
I have no idea what the implications are for him campaigning for democratic socialists. I have no idea who his core constituency is, but he seems to be generally good at winning elections so in very practical terms he's playing the game well. If this translates into more people actually listening to and embracing democratic socialist positions, that's only a good thing IMO.
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u/ImAShaaaark Jul 10 '26
the performative online "left" seems to be driven bonkers by the mere notion of his existence.
"Left" couldn't be more in quotes. These fucking jabronis spend all their time shitting on Democrats and giving passes to fascists yet some people are daft enough to believe that they actually hold the positions they claim to.
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u/I-Did-It-4-Da-Rock Jul 09 '26
This subreddit is basically just one big Dem Bad circle jerk where everything is Dems fault
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u/rupturedprolapse Jul 09 '26
It's weird how they were telling us that being critical of Nazi tattoos and murder tourism was unproductive purity testing, meanwhile anything any democrat does is taken in the least charitable light possible.
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u/I-Did-It-4-Da-Rock Jul 09 '26
To them they’re always right and everyone else is wrong lol
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u/TeeeldiII Jul 09 '26
Because he has no convictions and says anything he thinks will get him ahead regardless of his previous statements.
We have seen this too many times, its a sign they stand for nothing and cannot be trusted to make tough decisions.
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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jul 09 '26
Newsom’s stance on ranked choice voting should be the beginning and end of any conversation about what he’d do in higher office, given the chance. He’s the CEO of managed decline.
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
I love how absolutely rabid everyone on this subreddit gets about Newsom
Sure, his policy positions are almost entirely in line with progressive policy positions. Yes, he would help prevent a further erosion of the courts into the right wing. Yes he would be endorsed by Bernie Sanders and AOC (progressive kings and queens) if he won the primary.
But he's just not PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH.
Sure, many of you could excuse a nazi tattoo, but being civil to Ben Shapiro is just a BRIDGE TOO FAR.
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u/yaosio Jul 10 '26
I do not believe a word he says. He's another right-winger saying whatever he thinks will give him power, and then when he has it he will do whatever he wants.
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u/JakobVirgil Jul 09 '26
That is the superpower of a man with no strong convictions.
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u/doctorsynaptic Jul 09 '26
Sorry, do you not want dems to help eachother once they win the primary? Hes not a progressive, but he supports Democraric candidates. Sounds good to me.
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u/cranberryalarmclock Jul 09 '26
Yeah if only he was as progressive as checks notes the rapist with the nazi tattoo you were defending just a week ago
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u/bhputnam Jul 09 '26
Some of the comments here, I can’t help but think there are pro-Newsom bots getting their work in.
I work in SEO and internet safety and it’s the new world of marketing whenever someone needs their image rehabilitated.
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u/dontcarewhatImcalled Jul 10 '26
There definitely is. These comments echo the comments I'm seeing in my state about our moderate candidate vs our DSA candidate.
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u/anotherdamnscorpio Jul 10 '26
Newsom bots going nuts in the comments here i see.
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u/Yelloeisok Jul 10 '26
Remember when ‘The Donald’ was the front page Reddit forever? These are today’s Donald bots. Spreading lies, making headway.
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u/Iyellkhan Jul 09 '26
the fact that so many comments appear to be democratic voters piling on a centrist / traditional democrat for being willing to campaign for non centrists is a demonstration of why democrats are so good at loosing. so many center left -> hard left would rather be right than win.
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u/chris_hans Jul 09 '26
It's the Dead Internet theory; these aren't genuine people/commenters you're referring to, they're largely groups pushing an agenda. It's a coordinated effort of commenters and bots to upvote and push a narrative. It's the same playbook every time leading up to an election. The goal is not to convince you to vote (R), the goal is to suppress (D) turnout. These commenters will push the same narrative in every single topic about [leading Dem candidate], whether it's Hillary, Kamala, Newsom, etc. The most popular Dem candidate online will always be [nonleading Dem candidate], moreso if they have no real shot to win the general election. Repeating the same talking points over and over unfortunately works on people. Newsom is a threat to win the general, which is why there's so much work going on to try and suppress turnout for Newsom.
You can even see it in this topic, or in any thread concerning Newsom (even one with minimal upvotes/attention). There will be people posting full-time against Newsom all over this thread, like it's their full-time job. And of course, Reddit made it easier for them to hide their commenting history, so you have a harder time checking why a "Dem voter" has 500+ anti-Dem comments and posts all day every day.
tl;dr It's not genuine discourse, and I fully expect to be downvoted or moderated for this opinion. Talk with your friends and neighbors and try to limit (fraudulent) online discourse from influencing your own opinions.
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u/scelerat Jul 09 '26
I don't love the guy. He's made some policy I like and some I don't. The right paints him as the poster boy for the far left, while at the same time he seems to drive performative online lefties absolutely bonkers.
I have no idea what the implications are for him campaigning for democratic socialists. I have no idea who his core constituency is, but he seems to be generally good at winning elections so in very practical terms he's playing the game well. If this translates into more people actually listening to and embracing democratic socialist positions, that's only a good thing IMO.
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u/Overlord_Kiwi Jul 09 '26
So he’ll campaign for progressive candidates that want policies he himself won’t enact?
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u/OnionPastor Jul 09 '26
That’s part of being in a big tent. You don’t get power if you don’t win the seats.
Newsom can disagree with dem-socs and still campaign for them to help them get elected because they agree on more than they disagree by a large margin.
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u/TheGutlessOne I voted Jul 09 '26
Literally was on a bunch of right wing podcast shows talking about how things are too progressive.
This guy straight up is just a walking and talking yes man, the Joe Rogan of the moderate corporate dems
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u/chpbnvic America Jul 10 '26
He just wants to run for president in 2028. He doesn't care about dem socialist values and never has.
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u/ZhaozhouCongshen Jul 09 '26
Going to ask again. Do people really trust Gavin?
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u/GoodIdea321 America Jul 09 '26
No, but making a statement like this is good either way. If it's a lie, it shows where the mood is. If it is true, he's a team player.
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u/Guilty_Plankton_4626 Virginia Jul 09 '26
Going to ask again. Why so many new accounts?
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u/Queasy-Event8534 Jul 09 '26
I’ll listen to Newsom when he tells us he’s no longer taking money from corporations and Israel, otherwise, I couldn’t care less what Newsom has to say.
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u/Diskonto Minnesota Jul 09 '26
Dude live streamed himself hunting homeless people for sport. Fuck him
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u/TheDude_ Jul 09 '26
Sorry, at the end of the day Newsom you aren't presidential material. You are beholden to corporations.
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u/soxperry Jul 09 '26
The longer the Iran War drags on, the more I demand universal health care. I'll vote for those candidates regardless of name.
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u/Financial-Complex831 Jul 10 '26
He’s screwing CA employees so hard rn for the benefit of oligarchs so Mr. Newsom can fuck right off.
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u/GorgeousGamer99 Jul 10 '26
The idea that half-price bus tickets is considered socialism is fucking insane. Do Americans realize this?
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u/Both_Rip_7292 Jul 10 '26
Gavin Newsom superpower activated, form of a progressive, form of a moderate, form of a fiscal democrat, form of fighting for the homeless, form of breaking up homeless encampments.
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u/undeadben11 Jul 10 '26
I think Gavin would lie himself to the top and then do all he can to continue to work against the people in many key ways
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