I’m really glad to see my governor, Gavin Newsom, get out there on his podcast, and I think it’s great that conservatives like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon have joined him on his show. This is a good thing. In the macro sense, the ghettoization of thought throughout the media has made it so that we rarely see actual confrontations between people who think differently. I think debate is good, and we need many vendors out there in the marketplace of ideas. But I also have a utilitarian reason. This is going to red pill some of the few liberals who will watch – there aren’t going to be many because they’re usually allergic to contrary opinions – but because this is going to permanently destroy the Human Hairstyle’s potential for higher office. Well, at least to the extent that his miserable track record is one of turning the Golden State into the Brown State, as evidenced by the fact that Scat Francisco, the city he was mayor of for years, actually has online human poo maps.
I think it’s a pretty good rule of thumb never to vote for somebody who was a governor of a place that employs hobo feces cartographers.
Now, my opinion is not shared by all my conservative friends. Some of them believe that we shouldn’t be helping platform Gavin Newsom by appearing with him. I get what they’re saying; I just think they’re wrong. First, the whole platforming discussion leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and it should leave one in yours. Pretty much everybody should be “platformed” in the sense that everybody should get a chance to speak and be heard. Now, this isn’t just a naïve, goo-goo cliche. I do not suffer under the delusion that every idea is equal and that no political opinion is bad. I am aware of communists, nazis, and vegans. I just believe that our Creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights, including the right to shoot off our mouths and the right to hear other people shooting off their mouths, even if those people are complete idiots.
But there’s a practical matter as well. I like seeing conservatives and liberals bang it out. I liked it back when it happened on “Crossfire” before the sanctimonious Jon Stewart helped destroy the cable debate format. And I like it now when it occasionally occurs, whether it’s on CNN with Scott Jennings or on Fox with Jessica Tarlov.
It’s good for us. The fact that we conservatives have had to defend our ideology, while leftists stuck in their blue bubbles never have, has been a huge advantage. As Gavin Newsom demonstrates, when they try to support their positions, they come across as incoherent, flabby, and painfully unaware of the counterarguments we launch against them. When liberals get giddy over somebody owning a conservative, it’s never them making some sort of clever argument but rather yelling “racist” even louder than usual. These people are excited about having noted particle physicist Jasmine Crockett as the aggressively ignorant face of their party. That says it all.
Recommended
Perhaps, to some extent, this exposure may help Gavin Newsom in some potential future campaign. Maybe it helps him get in shape, kind of like Rocky going to the meat packing plant and slugging sides of beef. I’m not too worried about that, though. After all, it’s not like his comrades are digging it. They don’t want to normalize us – you know, 50% of America – by actually contending with our views. They would just rather tell us how we’re stupid and racist and whatever else. Of course, that’s not working anymore. We don’t care. The regime media can’t shove it down our throats in 2025 because no one’s watching it. When was the last time you watched ABC News? The last time I watched network television, it wasn’t even network television. It was some clip of Chuck Schumer on “The View” explaining how we’re all selfish because we don’t want to give free money to the government to hand over to deadbeats, grifters, and transgender Ecuadorian mime troupes.
And there’s always a chance that hearing somebody else’s argument is going to make you change your views. After all, people evolve. My views are somewhat different than when I started doing this after Andrew Breitbart insisted I start writing for him in 2009. I was much more hawkish then and much more supportive of maintaining norms and guardrails. Well, none of that’s a thing now, but it might still be a thing if I hadn’t been exposed to people who didn’t think exactly like I did about those issues.
Gavin Newsom purports to be changing and, tepidly, challenging some Democrat orthodoxy. It’s pretty clear he sees himself as taking over the 2028 Democrat nomination race’s empty Normal Lane. There are going to be plenty of Dems trying to squeeze into the "As Far Left As Humanly Possible Lane," particularly if JB Pritzker tries to wedge his enormous rear-end into it along with Chris “No, I’m Not the Connecticut Senator Who Pretended to Have Personally Won the Tet Offensive” Murphy, Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Stepford) and Big Chief Warren. Newsom wants to be a Democrat whom voters perceive as not crazy. It’s not a bad idea, as far as it goes. Bill Clinton won in 1992, barely, after eight years of Republican glory under Reagan and four other years under Bush I, by announcing that he thought criminals belong in jail and that people should work instead of being on welfare. This revolutionary Sister Souljah stuff made normal people feel like they could trust Clinton enough to take a chance on a Democrat again a dozen years after Jimmy Carter solidified his position as the second-worst president of the last century behind Joe Biden.
To do this, Gavin Newsom has sort of kind of conceded that maybe the idea of having dudes on girl sports teams is unfair. He hasn’t really weighed into the whole naked men walking into your daughter’s locker room with the whole gang hanging out issue, but it’s progress, nonetheless. Oh, he doesn’t believe it. It’s a jailhouse (White House?) conversion. He’s presiding over a state where they can drag your son Jimmy away if you object to having him castrated so he can more easily pass as Gladys. But baby steps, right? Maybe someday he’ll come out against crime, which would be a nice change.
The reason some conservatives are upset with us interacting with Gavin Newsom is that they think this is going to make him more palatable to voters. It’s not. The guy has an unbroken track record of disasters. My state used to be the envy of the union, a glorious paradise of endless opportunity, swaying palm trees, and hot chicks. Under his rule, unless you are one of the feudal elite (like me, a lawyer), California is a hellscape of endless regulation and despair, burning palm trees, and residents who are significantly uglier than they used to be in the 80s.
No one’s going to be fooled by Gavin’s born-again sane-person act. What it’s doing is making his fellow pinkos hate him for both his heresy and his daring to engage in civil conversation with Designated Bad People. What it’s not doing is fooling any of us conservatives or even any normals. Gavin has always been known for his moral and political flexibility, and this is merely another flex. In the end, we’re going to end up with a bunch of great campaign ads assembled from video clips of him pushing the poisonous positions he hasn’t yet repudiated.
So, Governor, you’ve got my best wishes for your podcast. I hope you keep it up. No really. I mean it. Keep it up.
Listen, Governor Hairstyle truly thinks he's furthering his political career and ambitions with this podcast, but all he's doing is alienating the radical pinkos in his party, giving us a platform to red-pill his audience, and exposing himself for the hypocrite snake he is. Conservatives must capitalize on all opportunities to share our views and values and expose the regressive left. Help us continue to amplify our winning message and Donald Trump's MAGA agenda by becoming a Townhall VIP member. Not only will you support our fight, but you'll also get access to my exclusive Wednesday columns, "Stream of Kurtiousness" videos, and "Unredacted" podcast. Join today and use promo code FIGHT at checkout to get 60% off your membership!
Follow Kurt on X @KurtSchlichter. Get the newest volume in the Kelly Turnbull People’s Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, the bestselling Amazon #1 Military Thriller, Overlord! And get his new novel about terrorism in America, The Attack!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member