California Gov. Gavin Newsom is widely viewed as a strong contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, but his record is a real problem, just not in the way pundits think it is.
Take, for example, his determination to thwart the 2026 California Billionaire Tax Act, which would impose a one-time 5 percent levy on residents of the state worth $1 billion or more. This is hardly Bolshevism, as keen mathematicians will note that 5 percent still leaves 95 percent, meaning those affected would wake up the next morning in the same economic bracket. Regardless, Newsom remains firmly in the plutocrats’ corner.
Newsom’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, late last month — always a popular destination for those angling for high office — amid President Donald Trump’s lunge toward Greenland. Just as European leaders were discovering that, having tolerated U.S. imperialism in Venezuela, it was now threatening their own backyard, Newsom kindly offered some unsolicited advice, scolding them that “Trump is a T. rex — you mate with him or he devours you, one way or the other, and you need to stand up to it.” (The revelation that T. rexes can be defeated by standing up to them will come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen “Jurassic Park.”) Trump, for his part, merely shrugged in response: “I used to get along so great with Gavin.”
Newsom has also been criticized for launching a review of TikTok's moderation practices, accusing the platform of suppressing Trump-critical content after a deal was finalized to transfer Chinese ownership of the app to a consortium of pro-Israel, Trump-loving billionaires, including Larry Ellison and Michael Dell. This move is seen as an attempt by Newsom to appease his donors and avoid any backlash from the far-right.
Furthermore, students of shameless self-promotion may already be familiar with “This Is Gavin Newsom,” the podcast launched in early 2025 in which the governor has sought to bridge the political divide by sitting down for chummy dialogue with far-right celebrities like Ben Shapiro and the late Charlie Kirk. What this looks like in practice is Shapiro goading Newsom into denying Israel's genocidal conduct in Gaza, while Kirk earned Newsom's fulsome agreement about the nefarious menace of trans women playing sports.
However, there are those in the political media who unbothered by all this — if anything, it is the kind of thing they would like to see more of. Instead, their concern comes from a different direction, if not an alternate universe, altogether.
Writing in The Atlantic late last month, Marc Novicoff and Jonathan Chait argued “Gavin Newsom’s Record Is a Problem.” While acknowledging he has “sensed what Democrats want … and is delivering it with a roguish charisma” (your mileage may vary), they nevertheless worry he may be perceived as too progressive. This will, one assumes, be followed by essays on why Chuck Schumer is too courageous and JD Vance is too likable.
Novicoff and Chait posit that Newsom’s tenure as governor has seen California “fall hard for faddish progressive policies on immigration, education, and crime that either didn’t work, violated the intuitions of most Americans, or both.” As proof, they offer the state providing Medicaid to undocumented immigrants and gender-affirming health care for prisoners, both of which they present as catastrophic missteps that will come back to haunt him in 2028.
This is all par for the course from Chait, who maintains Kamala Harris’s 2024 defeat had little to do with her support for Israel during a genocide, her proud past as California's “top cop,” or her unwillingness to distance herself from Joe Biden's legacy. Instead, Chait blames those few instances during her Hindenburg-like 2019 stab at the Democratic nomination where she briefly and unconvincingly pivoted left before returning to the comfort of political moderation.
However, in reality, the arch-centrist Chait got everything he could hope for in Harris, who promptly blew it; now, with Newsom as the alleged front-runner for 2028, the fact that Chait is already preemptively recycling the same excuses for failure does not inspire confidence.
“Just about everything people don’t like about the Democratic Party has come true in Newsom’s California,” Chait and Novicoff write, inadvertently stumbling onto a point. Many Americans despise the Democrats for their craven coddling of billionaires and corporate interests, their fealty to zombified Third Way snake oil, and their twitchy, terrified suspicion of any mass movement too radical for their own beige, milquetoast taste — and sure enough, in the California governor’s mansion sits a man who personifies all these grim qualities.
If Newsom — who treats billionaires as a treasured natural resource, who mobilized thousands of National Guard troops to quash Black Lives Matter protests, who made a photo op of breaking down a homeless encampment with his own hands — is not impeccably centrist enough for the likes of Chait, who the hell is? A John Fetterman who’s on the ball and not acting like a Republican? A Kyrsten Sinema whose personal life isn’t straight out of a daytime soap opera? A reanimated WelcomeFest speaker stitched together in Matt Yglesias’s laboratory?
Unsurprisingly, there has been little indication the American progressive left perceives Newsom as deserving anything but disdain. Recent weeks have only bolstered the sense that committing to the abolition of ICE is a prerequisite for any remotely moral candidate in 2028. If Newsom fails to become that candidate, it will not be because he appeared too left-wing, but because he lacked the guts or the inclination to be anything except what he manifestly is: a preening political operator, beholden to a status quo that no longer exists.
In reality, Newsom’s record is a problem, and it's one that cannot be fixed by tweaking his policy proposals or rebranding himself as more "progressive." The problem lies in his fundamental alignment with the plutocrats and his inability to stand up to Trump's authoritarianism. If he fails to confront this reality, he risks becoming just another failed politician, unable to connect with the American people because of his own self-delusions.
Take, for example, his determination to thwart the 2026 California Billionaire Tax Act, which would impose a one-time 5 percent levy on residents of the state worth $1 billion or more. This is hardly Bolshevism, as keen mathematicians will note that 5 percent still leaves 95 percent, meaning those affected would wake up the next morning in the same economic bracket. Regardless, Newsom remains firmly in the plutocrats’ corner.
Newsom’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, late last month — always a popular destination for those angling for high office — amid President Donald Trump’s lunge toward Greenland. Just as European leaders were discovering that, having tolerated U.S. imperialism in Venezuela, it was now threatening their own backyard, Newsom kindly offered some unsolicited advice, scolding them that “Trump is a T. rex — you mate with him or he devours you, one way or the other, and you need to stand up to it.” (The revelation that T. rexes can be defeated by standing up to them will come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen “Jurassic Park.”) Trump, for his part, merely shrugged in response: “I used to get along so great with Gavin.”
Newsom has also been criticized for launching a review of TikTok's moderation practices, accusing the platform of suppressing Trump-critical content after a deal was finalized to transfer Chinese ownership of the app to a consortium of pro-Israel, Trump-loving billionaires, including Larry Ellison and Michael Dell. This move is seen as an attempt by Newsom to appease his donors and avoid any backlash from the far-right.
Furthermore, students of shameless self-promotion may already be familiar with “This Is Gavin Newsom,” the podcast launched in early 2025 in which the governor has sought to bridge the political divide by sitting down for chummy dialogue with far-right celebrities like Ben Shapiro and the late Charlie Kirk. What this looks like in practice is Shapiro goading Newsom into denying Israel's genocidal conduct in Gaza, while Kirk earned Newsom's fulsome agreement about the nefarious menace of trans women playing sports.
However, there are those in the political media who unbothered by all this — if anything, it is the kind of thing they would like to see more of. Instead, their concern comes from a different direction, if not an alternate universe, altogether.
Writing in The Atlantic late last month, Marc Novicoff and Jonathan Chait argued “Gavin Newsom’s Record Is a Problem.” While acknowledging he has “sensed what Democrats want … and is delivering it with a roguish charisma” (your mileage may vary), they nevertheless worry he may be perceived as too progressive. This will, one assumes, be followed by essays on why Chuck Schumer is too courageous and JD Vance is too likable.
Novicoff and Chait posit that Newsom’s tenure as governor has seen California “fall hard for faddish progressive policies on immigration, education, and crime that either didn’t work, violated the intuitions of most Americans, or both.” As proof, they offer the state providing Medicaid to undocumented immigrants and gender-affirming health care for prisoners, both of which they present as catastrophic missteps that will come back to haunt him in 2028.
This is all par for the course from Chait, who maintains Kamala Harris’s 2024 defeat had little to do with her support for Israel during a genocide, her proud past as California's “top cop,” or her unwillingness to distance herself from Joe Biden's legacy. Instead, Chait blames those few instances during her Hindenburg-like 2019 stab at the Democratic nomination where she briefly and unconvincingly pivoted left before returning to the comfort of political moderation.
However, in reality, the arch-centrist Chait got everything he could hope for in Harris, who promptly blew it; now, with Newsom as the alleged front-runner for 2028, the fact that Chait is already preemptively recycling the same excuses for failure does not inspire confidence.
“Just about everything people don’t like about the Democratic Party has come true in Newsom’s California,” Chait and Novicoff write, inadvertently stumbling onto a point. Many Americans despise the Democrats for their craven coddling of billionaires and corporate interests, their fealty to zombified Third Way snake oil, and their twitchy, terrified suspicion of any mass movement too radical for their own beige, milquetoast taste — and sure enough, in the California governor’s mansion sits a man who personifies all these grim qualities.
If Newsom — who treats billionaires as a treasured natural resource, who mobilized thousands of National Guard troops to quash Black Lives Matter protests, who made a photo op of breaking down a homeless encampment with his own hands — is not impeccably centrist enough for the likes of Chait, who the hell is? A John Fetterman who’s on the ball and not acting like a Republican? A Kyrsten Sinema whose personal life isn’t straight out of a daytime soap opera? A reanimated WelcomeFest speaker stitched together in Matt Yglesias’s laboratory?
Unsurprisingly, there has been little indication the American progressive left perceives Newsom as deserving anything but disdain. Recent weeks have only bolstered the sense that committing to the abolition of ICE is a prerequisite for any remotely moral candidate in 2028. If Newsom fails to become that candidate, it will not be because he appeared too left-wing, but because he lacked the guts or the inclination to be anything except what he manifestly is: a preening political operator, beholden to a status quo that no longer exists.
In reality, Newsom’s record is a problem, and it's one that cannot be fixed by tweaking his policy proposals or rebranding himself as more "progressive." The problem lies in his fundamental alignment with the plutocrats and his inability to stand up to Trump's authoritarianism. If he fails to confront this reality, he risks becoming just another failed politician, unable to connect with the American people because of his own self-delusions.
... I mean, come on, supporting billionaires and not taking on Trump's authoritarianism is a no-go 
. And don't even get me started on his "chummy dialogue" with far-right celebs 
. It's like he thinks that's gonna win him some points with the progressive crowd 
. Meanwhile, Chait and Novicoff are just recycling the same excuses for why Kamala Harris failed... 
Newsom needs to take a hard look at his record and figure out what he really stands for 
.
Newsom's record is a major red flag for 2028 Dem nom... all those billionaire-friendly policies & Trump appeasement 
His attempts to appear progressive just come across as weak sauce 
The fact that he's more interested in being likable than taking bold stances on issues like ICE abolition is a major turnoff for the left 
, trying to blend in with whatever crowd will take him at the moment 
. On one hand, he's been "delivering" what Democrats want (yawn) 
, but on the other hand, his record shows he's more of an ally to billionaires and corporate interests than he lets on 
. And don't even get me started on his handling of social issues - like, come on, a governor who breaks down homeless encampments with his own hands? 
. It's time for Newsom to acknowledge the elephant in the room (Trump's authoritarianism) and actually take a stand against it 
, or else he'll be left behind by the progressive left 
I think people need to chill out about Gavin Newsom's record 
, but what politician hasn't faced setbacks? 
. But let's be real, there's no one who can tick every box perfectly 
. The problem is that Newsom is trying to do what he thinks is best for America, not just California 
.
. Let's focus on listening to different perspectives instead of trying to tear each other down 
. And let's not forget about the recent wildfires in Northern California, which have displaced thousands of people and destroyed homes 
. Meanwhile, Newsom is out there trying to make a name for himself as a "moderate" candidate... 
.
. While some people see him as a strong contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, others are worried about his alignment with the plutocrats and his inability to stand up to Trump's authoritarianism 
- it's like he thinks he can buy his way into the White House with all those billionaire buddies of his 
That's just rich coming from someone who thinks Israel is above reproach 
.
and I had this crazy idea to make a cake using avocado as a substitute for butter 
. Has anyone else tried it? How did it turn out? 
I'm really worried about Gavin Newsom right now... it sounds like he's losing himself in all these attempts to appease both sides 
. And honestly, it's scaring me that people like Jonathan Chait are already trying to spin Newsom's record as a problem 
Does his pursuit of power come at the cost of his convictions?
, but in all honesty, it's not as bad as some ppl think 
with far-right celebs like Shapiro & Kirk? 
. Otherwise, we're stuck with more of the same old politics 
.
. If Newsom can't even acknowledge the importance of abolishing ICE and confronting Trump's authoritarianism, how's he gonna connect with the people? 
... but it's not just about being too progressive or not progressive enough 
. If he can't even get that right, how's he gonna lead the party? 
providing Medicaid to undocumented immigrants and gender-affirming healthcare for prisoners were major flops 
63% of Americans say they're more likely to vote for a candidate who takes a tougher stance on crime 
- not in a way that's gonna lead to Bolshevism, but more like he's just solidifying his ties with the plutocrats 
, which is just cringeworthy