When California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his podcast earlier this year, the Democrat’s first guest was Charlie Kirk. The two had a wide-ranging discussion, but one of the most interesting portions came when Newsom asked Kirk for advice for his party after their 2024 election loss. The Democrat took issue with advice strategist James Carville had given at the time to just sit back and watch the GOP “crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us.” Newsom completely disagreed with that approach and said when he heard it, one of the first people he thought of was Kirk, who Newsom recognized had been massively successful and influential in the conservative movement, including and perhaps most especially among young men.
That’s why reporters wondered about the timing of his announcement Tuesday discussing a mentorship program for men and boys to combat the “epidemic of loneliness.”
“Why was Charlie my first guest? Because I recognized his influence, not just in the last election, but in how many young men and boys heard the bell and answered the bell in terms of organizing on campuses and supporting the dialogue, and the organizational principles that Charlie Kirk was supporting and advancing,” Newsom told reporters, adding that "we've got to live together across our differences. And there are a lot of differences in this state, in this nation, for that matter, the world we're trying to build. And the only way we're going to reconcile those things is, by listening to one another."
Kirk touched on the issues affecting the youth in his conversation with the California Democrat back in March.
"This is the first time in America's history that a 30-year-old is gonna have it worse off than their parents. It's a breakdown of the social compact," Kirk said. "They are the most alcohol-addicted, most drug-addicted, most suicidal, most depressed, most medicated generation in history. And the message that was largely being fed to a lot of young people was lower your expectations. You're not gonna have the same American Dream that your parents would have. And we saw this as an opportunity, especially with young men.
"This got ridiculed a lot by the press that, 'Oh, you know, they're creating this manosphere thing.' Look, they're half of the population and necessary for any society and civilization to succeed, which is have both strong men and strong women. And we went about that in a very unique and creative way," he added.
Newsom told reporters that his “civil conversation” with Kirk happened both on and off camera and continued in the months that followed.
And while they certainly had major differences, Newsom emphasized what they shared in common.
"But one point of view, I think we did share was love of our family, love of this country, deep, deep, deep love for our children, and hope for a better world," Newsom said, revealing that his son was very familiar with Kirk and called him from school the day he was shot and wanted to know if he was alive.
“It was very impactful,” the governor commented.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says his son called him from school after hearing Charlie Kirk had been shot.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) September 16, 2025
“He wanted to know, ‘is he alive, is he alive?’ And so it was very impactful.” pic.twitter.com/FvL560ko7f
Gov. Newsom launched an effort today to try to improve the wellbeing of boys & young men through mentorship. I asked about timing of it with Charlie Kirk's death.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) September 17, 2025
I also asked if Kirk's assassination changes how he approaches politics/campaigns.
"I don't know," he replied... pic.twitter.com/aMk3PaHLrk