Newsom defends himself when pressed on call for Dems to become ‘culturally normal’
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Gov. Gavin Newsom defended himself Monday during a book tour stop when he was confronted with his argument that Democrats should be “culturally normal,” which the left-wing podcast host disputed.
Governor sat down with podcast host Kara Swisher for an interview about her book, “The Fast Guy,” and was introduced by a taped question from an “outside expert,” a segment Swisher includes in her podcasts.
The question came from another podcast host, far-left personality Jennifer Welch, who hosts the “I’ve Had It” podcast, which echoed the governor’s comments on CNN’s Dana Bash last month that Democrats should be more “traditional” on issues like transgender athletes in women’s sports if they want to win over voters.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom gestures at an event promoting his book “Young Man in a Hurry” on Feb. 28, 2026, San Francisco, California. (Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)
“He just said that Democrats need to be culturally normal,” Welch said Monday. “And Mbusi, I think that’s a very dangerous statement because I, a woman with a strong mouth in the form of a Bible belt, if I was normal here, I would have to obey my husband and I wouldn’t be able to have a podcast where I could criticize every little thing you say.”
“Governor Newsom, do you think this is dangerous language to use in an electorate that should be diverse? Diversity should be the norm,” she said.
The emperor replied, “Well, I mean, diversity should be the norm. I mean, who has been the greatest champion of diversity.”
“Hold on. No, but that, so, I just don’t accept the outline of the question,” Newsom continued. “But let me answer a question. I do not accept that frame at all.”
NEWSOM’S ‘TOPIC’ CLAIM THAT DEMs BE ‘NORMAL CULTURE’ IS ‘DANGEROUS,’ FAR LEFT PODCASTER SAYS.
“Diversity — that’s our biggest strength,” Newsom said. “We don’t tolerate our diversity, we celebrate our diversity. We live in the most diverse country in the most diverse democracy in the world. 27 percent of this state is foreign-born. We use pluralism. That’s a point of pride. That’s a core value. He should know that.”
The governor then argued that Democrats need to understand where they went wrong in order to gain control of the House, Senate and eventually, the White House.
The governor described the process of fighting to put a “mirror” on President Donald Trump and “Trumpism.”
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President Donald Trump speaks before participating in the Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (Mark Schifelbein/AP Photo)
“And part of me at first was like, do we really want to do this?” Newsom said. “But we need to do it. We need to put that mirror on Trump and Trumpism. Because none of this is normal, and this is my whole point, we will lose our country. We will lose our republic,” he said.
“This guy is unmistakable, the most corrupt president in American history,” he continued. “And we will lose our country if we don’t fight back and retreat. So, yes, I sometimes get angry on social media, don’t I? But I think it’s important in this situation that we publicize this fact 24-7.”
Newsom said “culturally normal” doesn’t mean right or wrong, but rather how people feel about certain issues, and he said taking that into account when it comes to elections isn’t wrong.
“It’s what you, what you emphasize, what you focus on the wrong way and how you navigate the world where they’re trying to make a change, and we’re on the defensive,” he added. “And, that’s why I went ahead with the case as it relates to the ban and the cultural cleansing that’s being done by the right group. And that’s why we’re repeating that.”
In an interview with CNN’s Bash in February, Newsom framed his argument from a “smart point of view,” saying, “From a purely political standpoint, there’s no doubt that the Democratic Party needs to be, I would say, culturally mainstream.”
“I believe that – a slight tendency to spend too much time on pronouns, identity, politics, to focus too much on tabletop issues, the most important things, the accumulation of stress in terms of electric bills and the cost of child care and health care, and obviously, the cost of housing and how easily we get caught up in that, that I am a victim of that,” he said.
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Welch responded to Newsom’s comments during his podcast and said the governor was putting Republicans down.
“What you’re saying, Gov. Newsom, is incredibly dangerous,” Welch said. “And you’re abandoning the narrative that Republicans are trying to define for free people who think their business stands for everything. You’re letting their bulls— the narrative define the American people, and it’s absolutely disgraceful.”
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