Not everyone is loving the attention California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is getting for his ramped-up social media posts imitating President Donald Trump ― and the critics are not just MAGA adherents.
For many in the trans community, it’s worrisome to see so many people rallying around Newsom and positioning him as the de facto resistance figure against Trump, given the California governor’s complicated stance on trans issues.
On the governor’s titular podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” he’s platformed fringe far-right guests, including some with transphobic views. He drew ire from some liberal circles in March, when he hosted pundit Charlie Kirk on the show and found common ground with Kirk on the issue of allowing transgender women and girls to compete in female sports.
“I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that,” he told Kirk in the episode. “It is an issue of fairness, it’s deeply unfair. We’ve got to own that. We’ve got to acknowledge it.”
Mercedes Weikal, a trans woman and a journalist who writes about the car industry, is among those troubled by Newsom’s about-face, especially because she sees him as a viable presidential candidate in many other ways. The politician “has the kind of energy the Democrats have been missing for far too long,” she says.
