Newsom Splits With Party on Trans Athletes

California Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines in the very first episode of his new podcast, and not merely in his choice of conservative bigwig Charlie Kirk as guest. In what Politico describes as "stunning remarks," the Democrat split with his own party on the issue of allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' and women's sports.

• "I think it's an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that," the governor told Kirk on his This is Gavin Newsom podcast. "It is an issue of fairness—it's deeply unfair. I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you."

• Newsom's remarks come soon after Senate Democrats blocked a bill barring transgender girls from competing in female youth sports. The governor may be bucking the views of his party, but not necessarily the public: Axios notes that the latest Pew survey found that most Americans (66%) think athletes should compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth.
• Newsom is a longtime champion of LGBTQ rights, particularly gay marriage, and he is also a potential 2028 contender for the Democratic nomination. On the podcast, he criticized Kamala Harris' response to transgender-related attack ads during her presidential campaign. And in other remarks that may not play well among top Democrats, he said the Black Lives Matter movement had leadership problems, criticized "cancel culture," and called the idea of defunding the police "lunacy."
• The governor said he didn't like James Carville's recent advice to Democrats to "roll over and play dead" in these early days of Trump's second term, and asked Kirk what he thought. "Yeah, I hope you guys retreat. More for us," Kirk replied, per Fox News. "I mean, there's no opposition, no activist spark."
• "What do you do? Seriously, Charlie Kirk, give us some advice," Newsom said to his guest. "Get better ideas, governor," answered Kirk.

(More Gavin Newsom stories.)