California's government's Gavin Newsom is one of America's most powerful Democrats, but this week he instead used a podcast with Stephen K. Bannon, the intelligent architect of the Maga movement.
Their fast-paced hour debate was well-characteristic and predictable disagreement. However, the conversation revealed that some strange policies overlap, and could have exposed each male's opinion to other supporters.
“This is part of the process of unleashing you from being a globalist to make you a populist nationalist,” Bannon said. “It's a long journey.”
Newsom seemed amused: “This is part of the program deprogram, right?”
However, Bannon has not used much of the opportunity to push Newsom in his position to advance his own perspective during a rough reporting of some of the most complicated issues facing the country and the world.
The podcast is the latest episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom,” a new show where he hosted several well-known conservatives. Bannon's conversation focused on economic issues and avoided the topic of culture war that dominated the broken previous episode with the other leaders of his party when talking about transgender athletes.
The tenor with Bannon was set early when Newsom didn't push back repeated false claims that President Trump had won the 2020 election. The governor does not appear to view the argument as a fact-checking session. He intermittently intermittently, including when Bannon was called “Pocahontas” by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
“Senator Warren,” Newsom said.
Bannon began to repeatedly use the mildly nicknames.
Instead, Newsom and Bannon have sometimes focused on surprising commonalities, such as Elon Musk's skepticism and the aversion to tax cuts between rich and corporations.
“The above bracket shouldn't get it. Even some companies shouldn't get it if they just buy back the stock,” Bannon said.
Newsom then urged him to “Tell it to your president, Steve.”
Bannon has openly sought to recruit Newsom for what he calls his economic populist approach. He praised California Democrats, Locanna, and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
“If we control the oligarchs, you have to work with us as governor and, frankly, as the leader of that wing of the party, saying, 'Hey, this can't be continued any more,'” Bannon said.
Bannon then spoke in a positive way about former Federal Trade Commission chairman Lina Khan under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was vilified by many business leaders.
“He drove her away!” Newsom said of Trump.
“I don't think Lina Khan's name crossed Kamala Harris' lips,” Bannon tried to push back.
“I can't remember,” Newsom said.
Newsom has occasionally reported on Bannon who wants to significantly reduce the size of the federal government, whether Trump really aligns with that cause.
Newsom said Trump literally waved his hands and waved him to dismiss the effects of the deficit when the two men rode the Marines. “Print press,” Newsom quoted the president as saying. “Printing machine.”
Bannon claimed that Trump was making a joke.
“I don't know if he was, not how he ruled the first four years,” Newsom retorted.
Bannon called for military spending and cuts on programs that many Republican voters use, such as Medicaid.
“There's a lot of Magazine in Medicaid,” he said, adding, “This won't be painless.”
Newsom has long been fascinated by the conservative media ecosystem, saying Republicans are defeating Democrats by using a large number of communication tools to spread their messages. Now, in his last two years as governor, Newsom, who is widely seen as a potential candidate for the 2028 presidential election, is experimenting with new channels.
He started a podcast last summer with longtime NFL agent friend Doug Hendrickson and former professional footballer Marshawn Lynch. Despite its name, the podcast contained little discussion about politics. Instead, they featured celebrity interviews and jokes between the hosts.
Newsom has decided this year to create a solo podcast focusing on political conversations that began with key figures in Trump's movement. In her debut episode last week, Newsom shocked her liberal allies when she told Charlie Kirk, the guest who leads youth organization Turning Point USA, that trans students agreed that it was “deeply unfair” to play in women's sports.
Bannon didn't develop the topic, but commentator Michael Savage told the governor that Newsom was another conservative who had on his podcast this week, Democrats' support for transgender youth was the reason he lost last year's election. In that episode, Newsom also mentioned his recent visit with the president in an oval office, seeking disaster aid to help Los Angeles recover from the huge wildfires of January.
“We're getting along, Trump and me,” Newsom said.
One of the most memorable topics in his conversation with Bannon was Musk, whom Bannon calls “parasitized illegal immigrants.”
“We may share some commonalities in terms of concern about what he is doing,” Newsom said.
“Dangling, wandering around,” Bannon paused. “You loved all the oligarchs, especially Elon, until they turned over.”
Bannon praised some of the cuts he pursued through so-called government efficiency, somewhat measured in his attacks on Musk, the world's wealthiest man. He also gave Musk credit for “supporting play” in Trump's campaign with a $280 million super PAC spend.
“What is his final game here?” asked Newsom.
Bannon said California actually enabled Musk to rise through clean car state incentives.
Newsom disagreed. “By the way, in a lot of ways, California did,” he said. “Creating this market was a regulatory process and subsidies. You're 100% right.”
