Can Democrats Still Govern? — with Gavin Newsom

24:07We'll be right back after a quick break.

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27:01It always struck me that there's something about not just California, but it feels like proximity to the Pacific Ocean, whether it's, you know, NVIDIA is now worth more than every publicly traded company in Germany and Spain combined. And they chose, Taiwan is immigrant, went to school in Oregon, then Stanford, chose to headquarter in California. Obviously in Washington, you got Amazon, you got Microsoft, you go down to San Diego, Qualcomm, you got SpaceX, you know, Alphabet, Meta, just on and on and on. And then you hit the, you hit San Diego on the Mexican border, you got to go another 6 ,000 kilometers to get to Mercado Libre.

27:40You hit the Canadian border, you got to go a couple hundred miles to get to Lululemon, which is, you know, the only billion dollar plus company. What do you think it is about, I won't even say California, the West Coast, that creates so much value creation from a shareholder standpoint? And what would you suggest the governors and officials do to maintain? What is the secret sauce and how do we keep stirring it?

28:09Gavin Newsom:No, I mean, I think it goes back to that formula. It's all by design. It's our values. 27 % of California. and you can extend this to the diversity in those Northern states as well, but 27 % of the state is foreign born or majority minority state. You go to an NVIDIA, I was just down at their conference. I mean, come on, you walk around, thank you to the contributions, not just from Taiwan, but mainland China. Thank you for those that have come here for riches and new beginnings that felt included and seen from India. The diversity on that floor, the entrepreneurial energy, the future, They all know happening here first where America's and globe's coming attraction, the entrepreneurial spirit, the innovative spirit, the energy and daring, the rules for risk-taking in California, but not recklessness.

28:57Gavin Newsom:There is no Tesla without the regulations in California. You opened on clean energy. We dominate in that space and we dominate in that space because we don't wanna be dominated by China in that space. And we continue, by the way, to make the case anew for capturing the wind. And the sun, with all due respect to Trump and his futility in Iran, the cost of sun never goes up. And the opportunity to capture that as we capture market share and competitive strength moving forward. But I think this notion of immigration policy, legal immigration, again, back to the framework of first round draft choices, the commitment to R &D, I mentioned 18 % of the world's R &D.

29:43Gavin Newsom:Germany is about 20%. China, about 21%. California, 18 % of that R &D. Sandia Labs, Lawrence Livermore Labs, the finest institutions of higher learning. You went to one, not just UCLA, but UC system broadly defined. Stanford, Caltech, and these ecosystems, venture capital. I didn't even get to that. 106 billion last year, of which 62 % was reinvested in the state because we have a startup mindset, an entrepreneurial mindset, back to, again, risk-taking. So all of these things are part of a formula that we've exported. It's a world we invented. It's competing against us. That's why we have to invest in our lead.

30:23Gavin Newsom:And that's been the mistake of the past on a lot of the issues you've touched on. I can't make up for the last 30, 40 years. I am accountable for the last seven. But I think many of those things are truly American and we've exported them. And I think they need to be scaled even more broadly and socialized more specifically in the consciousness of the American people that I don't think fully appreciate aspects of this state that certainly predate me that are deeply present in the future that we're all creating together. So by some estimates, AI, the majority of that shareholder value creation has actually been in California on the West Coast.

31:02It's responsible for 90 % of the GDP growth nationally. Extraordinary value creation. At the same time, there's so many concerns over it. And I was thinking that a lot of these founders will claim that this is more powerful and has more upside in terms of value creation and potentially more danger than nuclear, than fission, right? That this might be a more dangerous but powerful and have more potential than nuclear. But we would have never imagined back then letting private companies develop and sell nuclear bombs. So my question is, why is having private companies, it's clearly good for shareholder value.

31:47But what is the government's role in AI? Because right now it strikes me that the government's role is to make sure there is no regulation around AI. and you're in a difficult spot because you want to let your thoroughbreds run. You desperately need that tax revenue. You desperately want to continue to have the money to ensure that, you know, their social programs continue to attract the best and brightest who are going to go where there's the most economic upside. At the same time, it feels like the only regulation around a technology that according to the founders is more dangerous than nuclear has got to come from you or not.

32:21What is your thought at a state level around regulation or AI and at a federal level?

32:27Gavin Newsom:Well, it has. California is the only state, you're talking the only governor, and Hochul, to her credit, she backed in on some of the policies we advanced a few years ago, SB 53, to regulate large language models, to regulate frontier models. We did so as it relates to transparency and safety, and it was a multi-year process, very controversial. and we led as we lead on a lot of these child safety issues. And we have a lot more work to do, including a number of bills that I look forward to signing in the next few months, particularly as it relates to social media and our kids. But on AI, we're the only game in town.

33:04Gavin Newsom:So I couldn't agree with you more. And nor could I disagree with you less on the fact that it's a huge part of the narrative that I just advanced for you or as it relates to the 40 % GDP growth in this state. I'm not naive about that. And I love your frame around these thoroughbreds. And I just had my budget announcement. We're balancing not just for this year, but the year I'm gone, multi-year, because of the abundance and capital gains. Another$16.5 billion, by the way, just in corporate payroll, or corporate and personal income tax, just the last three months. I can only imagine what takes place and shape as we see what happens to SpaceX in the next few weeks and potentially Anthropic and OpenAI.

33:48Gavin Newsom:So we're always trying to find that balance around peril and promise, around truth and trust and transparency. But we have been muscular and leading. We've been very aggressive in condemning the Trump administration that have a let it rip policy. I think the mythos example that was pulled back was an example of perhaps some short-sightedness in that space that even within the Trump administration, I think there was a pause only to be relieved again when David Sachs picked up the phone and Elon Musk and said, no, Mr. President, we want to continue to let it rip. But you, when you opened up and started, asked the question, said a lot like the Pope, said a lot like Steve Bannon.

34:29Gavin Newsom:There seems to be a growing consciousness around these concerns and how we can, regardless of politics, I think there's a bipartisan, I mean, it's almost a universal construct here, that we should accelerate the technology, but we need to steer the technology. And we need to address the downsides, particularly as it relates to cybersecurity and trust. And we can't have in the hands of five human beings the ability to decide our fate and future, what we read, what we see, and who we ultimately vote for, these algorithms that are, you know, are redesigning us. And so we're leaning in on that nationally, complete absence of any leadership or accountability.

35:10Gavin Newsom:It's a corruption story. Trump's part of that corruption. His family's part of that corruption. I think that explains it as much more than anything else. And I think the Republican Party, Democratic Party, will pay a big price unless we lean into this, not from a jobs apocalyptic perspective. I know you have, you know, you think that's more of a fundraising story, which I appreciate. I think there's zero evidence to suggest you're wrong, but there is some evidence to suggest you may not be right. And that's why I'm also leaning in to make sure we're prepared if this is, as Dario says, even if he's half right, 50 percent of those white collar entry level jobs will be gone in the next four and a half years, even if he's half wrong.

35:52Gavin Newsom:I want to be on the right side of this and prepare for that. And we have five specific strategies that we've advanced that I'm not aware that any other state has advanced. So states have a responsibility and role to play here. And how do you prepare for that? Give us an overview of the cliff notes on those five strategies, if that, in fact, plays out. I think one thing about generative AI is we've all learned. My mom used to say this to me. I never understood until now it makes more sense in this concept. If you don't like the answer, ask a better question. And I think so much of AI is about what we prompt and the questions and the creativity that we bring and those human features.

36:31Gavin Newsom:But for us, the questions now we're asking to your specific question, if clerical work is being impacted, there's no clerical capital, so it's hard to define it geographically. And if it's happening not on the factory floor, but quietly, and there's a little bit of noise, but not a lot of noise with the unemployment numbers, But if it does hit us and it hits us on the head, are we prepared with our unemployment insurance system? Is there a different and better approach? So we're piloting employment insurance. We're piloting strategies. By the way, the Danes do this, where we pay employers to keep you employed and pay a percentage of that salary over the course of a number of years and then provide that ramp to the alternative.

37:17Gavin Newsom:Looking at portable benefits radically differently. We have something called Secure California as it relates to retirement benefits. We're looking at other benefits that aren't attached, like health care, to your employer. Looking at the payroll tax system that perversely rewards the exact thing we want to avoid, which is we give tax credits for automation, but we penalize businesses for hiring. And looking at strategies to address that that don't impact Social Security and Medicare. care. We're looking more broadly at strategies that, to me, are particularly interesting around universal basic capital, looking at wealth, sovereign wealth funds.

38:00Gavin Newsom:I years ago talked about a data dividend work with the Bergurian Institute. We struggle with that. But we've created 5.5 million child savings accounts. We did the Trump accounts six years ago before Trump ever did. We have a mechanism now, baby bonds we have as well for years and years, how we can use those accounts to create an ownership construct. Not charity, UBI, university-based income, but ownership, equity. It's more difficult, one thing to say, another to do, but we're having advanced conversations in that space. And so I put out a lot on this. We've done a number of executive orders, procurement, different strategies.

38:38Gavin Newsom:And I think we need to be prepared. And I hope you're right. I hope, you know, Dario's wrong. But I don't think we're having the kind of debate we need to be having across the country on what could happen if this thing moves as quickly at AGI as people think it might. Yeah, well, I get it wrong all the time. I think you're smart to be thinking about what happens. I want to move. I'll come back to domestic politics in a couple of minutes, but I'll talk a little bit about Iran. For a long time, Democrats have agreed with the president that Iran cannot be a nuclear-armed Iran. What do you think the president or the current administration has gotten right?

39:16And what have they gotten wrong about Iran? And describe kind of where you think we are now. And if you were advising the president, which I doubt you are, you obviously have arguably one of the biggest bully pulpits in the world. What do you think he's gotten right? The administration has gotten right. What has he gotten wrong? And what do you think we should do moving forward?

39:34Gavin Newsom:Well, I was an early supporter of his efforts to bomb those facilities. And I know Democrats were hesitant about that and had on my own podcast, you know, a lot of the folks that helped design those strategies going back for three, four administrations. And I thought it was perfectly executed. And, you know, we can argue the timing, but I'll argue was well-timed. Since then, I've been flabbergasted by the just total incompetency. This guy's way out of his league on Iran. I mean, I think we've had six ultimatums, all of them that have been passed. Talk about a red line. He's servicing no confidence in the global construct.

40:17Gavin Newsom:I mean, we're paying, what, 21 % more in airfare since the war. We're paying 18 % more in energy since the war. We're paying 53. Forgive me, I haven't looked today, but last week when I left on Friday, I was 53.1 % more for gasoline. $1.51 here in California, $1.55 on average across the United States. and he still hasn't had a consistent theory of the case. And we had a peace deal this weekend and we're bombing this morning. And so he's just gotten it wrong, horribly wrong with this iteration of his pursuit. But look, the pursuit of making sure there is a real red line on ending the nuclear program was wise.

40:59Gavin Newsom:Throwing out the JCPOA, I think was foolish. And the fact that he's probably gonna back into a version of Obama's original deal is rather remarkable. And I look forward to Sean Hannity explaining that to his viewers on Fox. What do you think the administration has gotten right and wrong with respect to our relationship with Israel? Well, way too permissive to Bibi. I mean, the recklessness of Bibi's administration and putting at peril a two-state solution. We should be much more aggressive in demanding some reforms in that respect. Obviously, even Bibi is acknowledging that there's a timeline in terms of foreign aid, particularly coming from the United States.

41:36Gavin Newsom:He's talking in 10 years, but now almost universally, at least in my party, Democratic Party, rightfully, he's talking about conditioning that aid, supporting the defensive posture, but certainly conditioning that aid as it relates to the offensive strategies by Bibi and his administration. I'm hoping there's a change in administration. I don't want to get into foreign politics and domestic politics within Israel, but hopefully there'll be some fundamental change in October coming out of Israel. But if there's not and we're doubling down on stupid, as Bibi does, we're going to have to have a complete reset as it relates to that relationship.

42:10Gavin Newsom:But look, I think the president has been just too simply permissive in supporting Bibi's agenda. But he's not wrong in supporting Israel. And I've long supported Israel, long condemned with clarity the terrorist attacks by Hamas. and condemned how this war has been conducted in response to those attacks by Hamas. I was just talking to Jose Andres about his experience this weekend in Gaza and how food was used as a weapon, a weapon of war, starvation in Gaza. I watched tens of thousands of people die and we all have kids. What the hell happened in terms of how they conducted this war is a disgrace.

42:58Do you think there's any truth to the notion that Israel and the IDF are held to a higher standard in terms of what we expect from them versus some of the atrocities elsewhere?

43:08Gavin Newsom:I think at times that may be the case. I don't disagree with you on that. And I think we have to be cautious about that. And I, you know, as someone that went to Israel right after October 7th, met with the president, met with the prime minister in the bunker, brought supplies, medical supplies, field hospital. By the way, we brought a field hospital to Israel and eventually got it into Gaza. So I wasn't there just rhetorically and symbolically. But I was there because I've long condemned for using the word revered. But I've long been a supporter of Israel, just not this president. Do you consider yourself a Zionist?

43:48Gavin Newsom:Yeah, I mean, to the extent that everyone seems to me loaded word. and everyone has a different definition and I've seen it weaponized to the extent Israel's right to exist. Yes, of course. And I believe that right should extend to the Palestinians. And I think that needs to be enunciated with more clarity as well.

44:14We'll be right back.

44:20Tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla? Smooth caramel, maybe. Or a white chocolate mocha.

44:30Gavin Newsom:Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries. Where is Daredevil? I'm right here. Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again. So what's next? We're gonna take this city back. In an all-new season, now streaming only on Disney+. us. They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them. I can work with them. This should be tons of fun. Marvel Television's Daredevil and Born Again streaming only on Disney+. Buy Now, Pay Later is everywhere. And honestly, we need to talk about it. 60 % of Coachella goers put their tickets on Buy Now, Pay Later this year.

45:14You can even pay off your DoorDash order and installments now, like your sushi. So this week on Net Worth and Chill, I'm breaking down exactly how these companies are making money off of you, why missing one payment can flip your interest rate from zero to nearly 36 % overnight, and the uncomfortable truth about what it really means when you need to split a$200 purchase into four payments. Plus, I'm answering your questions, including what to do if you're already in over your head. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on youtube.com slash you're rich BFF.

45:49We're back with more from Governor Gavin Newsom. So I could do this for three hours, but unfortunately, we only have you for about another 18 minutes. So I'm going to do a bit of a lightning round. I'd love to just get your top line thoughts on some stuff, just general reactions. If, again, should in fact you at some point have influence over federal policy or national policy, mandatory national service.

46:11Gavin Newsom:I mean, are you kidding? You're talking to the guy who's built the largest service corps in the United States of America, significantly larger than the Peace Corps, someone that has, without going out of my way, been critical of what we try to do on student debt in the last administration without asking for anything in return. I'll give you an example, Scott, because I know you care about higher education, UC system, which, by the way, we've invested, since I've been governor, 46 % increase in investments in the UCs. 40 ,000 more California residents have gotten into the UC system. 55 % increase in dual enrollment.

46:49Gavin Newsom:And 65 % of people coming out of the UC and CSU still graduate debt-free. I don't know, there's many systems as large. And we still have work to do. I'm not naive about some of your critiques. But one of the things I'm proud of is we provide$10 ,000 grants for service in return for 450 hours of service contribution. And it's just been extraordinary. Absolutely. We need to make it mandatory. How we do that and scale it, there's some nuance, but I think it would be one of the most significant and consequential things to knit this country back together. $25 an hour minimum wage. Well, I've done it.

47:32Gavin Newsom:Not talking about it. Only governor country can lay claim to that. $20 for fast food workers, criticized hourly in the Wall Street Journal Ed board, and$25 for healthcare workers,$16.90, adjusted for inflation for everybody else. But nationwide, it's a disgrace. 20 states have$7.25 minimum wage, and you and I are subsidizing those corporations with our tax dollars with so many other workers that are ending up on the public welfare rolls. And so it is It's outrageous. It needs to be indexed to productivity, and that gets you closer to$25, perhaps. Forty percent of American households have some sort of medical or dental debt.

48:12What about lowering Medicare eligibility by a couple years every year, or single payer, effectively nationalizing or socializing health care in this country?

48:19Gavin Newsom:I think it's inevitable. Look, you know, I say this, I don't want to come across as braggadocious, but you're also talking someone who's done more on advancing universal health care than any other governor in the country, regardless of pre-existing conditionability to pay. And yes, I've been criticized, and I'll take the criticism, regardless of your immigration status. We move forward to lowering costs, not just subsidizing costs on pharmaceuticals. Created something called CalRx in the spirit of single-payer financing for drug purchases. $11 insulin is an example of that. And we've done the same low-cost naloxone, and we're subsidizing diapers for newborns in California.

48:57Gavin Newsom:I think single-payer is inevitable in the United States of America. I think the math doesn't add up for the private and public sector. I think the issue of debt and entitlement will be a dominant theme in the next five to 10 years. Both parties have neglected it. Issues of energy and climate change and how we can democratize our economy to save our democracy being the third leg of that stool. But I do believe it's inevitable that we move forward. How is the difficulty? How the hell do you do it without impacting your private health insurance, my private health insurance, and disrupting? But the math just doesn't add up.

49:31Gavin Newsom:And so absolutely, we've got to lean into that debate, as I've tried to do here at a state level with ERISA issues, 1115, 1332 waiver issues. Forgive all that. If you're listening, you're already bored. But there are challenges at the state level of getting it done. We push the boundaries in California. But nationwide, I think it is inevitable and needs to happen. So if you live in California and a high-income earner, what I refer to as a workhorse, Mom's a baller, partnered a law firm, dad owns some chiropractic clinics, write certification, work their asses off, make two or three million bucks a year.

50:06In New York or in California, they're paying 52, 54 percent. So people regurgitate on the notion that the rich aren't paying their taxes. It feels like it's the owners who qualify or the 0.1 percent people who own assets. A, do you agree with that? And B, what would you do to elevate or create a truly progressive tax system where the owners start paying as much as the super earners, if you will?

50:29Gavin Newsom:Well, no, look, if you're a high-paid doctor or lawyer, accountants, and you're getting taxed on income, I get why you're over this, you know, saying what's fair? And you blow back. But to your point, the super wealthy aren't paying on income. They're paying on that capital. So we have to address that issue. The question is how the hell do you do it? And we talked a little bit earlier about stepped-up basis. We talked about the issue of borrowing, you know, these lifestyle loans, which, you know, we can overstate, but they exist and persist. We could talk about issues around corporate taxation, which is more broad than the issue of individual taxes.

51:06Gavin Newsom:We can talk about the issue of transfer of wealth and how we have to address some of the state taxes, these dynasty taxes, these generation-skipping taxes, and how we reform those trusts in this country and how we get to income tax brackets that we once had for the ultra-wealthy and the super-rich. There's some constitutional questions. It's not me balking on the issue of a wealth tax, but a billionaire tax, absolutely. And we've got to be much more robust in this respect. Now, Biden put out a lot of policies, 25 % minimum tax for billionaires. It's not an AMT. It's not the Buffett rule. but it's in the same genre.

51:47Gavin Newsom:So what's the Buffett rule? You get to unrealized capital gains. That gets a little more challenging. How do you mark to market? Easier with equities. We have no choice. The social contract, it's over. It's gonna be, and I think it'll be detonated by AI. The imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. That's Plutarch warning the Athenians 2 ,000 years ago. 10 % of people, only two thirds the wealth. those staying 10%, only 93 % of the value of the stock market. This thing, the first trillionaire is coming later this year, maybe next month. I mean, this thing's not working.

52:22Gavin Newsom:The pitchforks are already coming out, Molotov cocktails, assassinations on the streets of CEOs. You're feeling it. And we have to get ahead of this. And it's not me begrudging other people's success. Businesses can't thrive in a world that's failing. What does that look like? What would you think of an alternative minimum tax of 40 % every time. If you borrow against your assets, that triggers a capital gain. But at a minimum, corporations paying an AMT of, say, 40%, wealthy people, loopholes, you know, be damned. If you're not paying at least 40 % above a certain amount, you pay 40%. I mean, it's exactly where we need to go.

53:00Gavin Newsom:AMT, so, I mean, I was looking back at the old AMT the other day. We had some tax experts in looking back at it. I had forgotten about the 2017 tax cuts, all the damn loopholes in that. What a mess that is on the AMT. But absolutely moving back to along what you just described. I'm not landing prescriptively, but I'm landing absolutely generationally back to, and I'll say it, I don't want to come across as another throwaway line, but I really believe that the issue of democracy, which I've been very aggressive about, in Prop 50, redistricting, calling out Trump and Trumpism, is directly connected with the issue of populism and the economy.

53:43Gavin Newsom:And again, unless we democratize the economy, we will lose this republic. And so these are the same fights. It's the same fight. And you're hearing white-collar workers sounding a lot like blue-collar workers. There's a new working coalition here. And so there's aspects of Bernie and Elizabeth and AOC in that populism. But we, I think, those that have overseen capitalism as we've known it and the decline, we owe it to people to own up to these trend lines. And we've got to be much more aggressive and assertive. And so AMT, along the lines you suggest, exercising some real stepped-up basis strategies that protect farmers, that protect small businesses, and particularly business, family-owned businesses.

54:36Gavin Newsom:This is just table stakes right now and needs to be aggressively adopted and pursued. I want to talk at this in our remaining few minutes here, so it's a little bit more personal. When you look back, as your tenure as governor comes to an end, when you, you know, 10, 20 years, 30 years down the road, when you look back, what do you think you'll be? What is the one thing you'll think you'll be most proud of? And what is the one decision or action you think, you know, I missed it there? It's a weird thing because I don't want to, it's almost too easy and lazy. This service commitment, I'm telling you, I'm a Sarge Shriver Democrat.

55:10Gavin Newsom:I don't know what it is about the vernacular 60s and solving for ignorance, poverty, and disease. I love the Bobby Kennedy, sort of the hard-headed pragmatism. He didn't begrudge other people's success. There was a pragmatism and a muscularity. I think the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is we're perceived rightfully as too slow, weak, and ineffective. We got to be more aggressive, stronger, and more assertive, more clear, more conviction. But this notion of service, you know, the old adage, no one stands taller than when he or she bends down on one knee to help lift other people up.

55:43Gavin Newsom:I've seen it in the eyes. We do swearing in, Scott. We do it virtually. And we swear in all the service members. And I'd sit there, I'd start crying. And, you know, first generation Republicans, no one cares. It's just a spirit of community. And these kids, their experience is off the charts. They come out, they say, this changed my life. And so I'm telling you, because it was interesting, my staff was not a huge supporter of this. Legislature, I always have to fight to get the money in this. I'll look back at that as one of the most significant things. Also creating these 5.5 million in accounts.

56:18Gavin Newsom:I put$1.9 billion. We had a big surplus one year, creating these child savings accounts, create a brand new pre-K for all. Every child gets into kindergarten, gets their own savings and career account. Those are things I'm proud of. I can go to all the policies and talk about doubling the earned income tax credit, creating a new foster care and child tax credit. We can talk about that pre-K for all, talk about after school for all, summer school for all. We can talk about everything done on community schools. We can talk about the healthcare expansions, the work we've done on the environment, the work we've done on our jobs plans, this amazing regional plan strategy.

56:50Gavin Newsom:I can go on and on, but service, people, mentorship, leadership, addressing this crisis of men and boys, which you've been just next level on, is something I'm proud of, perhaps as much more than others. Backing up, forgive the long-windedness on, we're all geniuses in hindsight. And I think about those early days in COVID when Ron DeSantis was shutting down the beaches, not just Gavin Newsom in California. We lost a lot of trust during COVID and we haven't gotten that back. And I think we've under-indexed how so much has changed since COVID. And I was a little slow at understanding how much had changed.

57:33Gavin Newsom:And so it's not a specific action per se, but it's, I think, just broader tonal appreciation that everything had changed, but I hadn't changed to the degree that I should as a leader of the fourth largest economy in the world. I have begun to address that in much more robust ways, But I think that would be something I would reflect on as a point of critique and consideration. So a lot of young men listen to the podcast. You're a father and a husband. Four kids, is that right, Governor? Yeah, four. Two boys, two girls. What advice or what learnings, what do you think you got right and wrong? And what are your learnings and advice you would give to a young man who's thinking about trying to be a good partner and a good father?

58:19Yeah.

58:20Gavin Newsom:Just you, you were, I, I'm so influenced. I don't want to brag all over you, man, but I'm so influenced by what you've written, what you talk about in this place. You talk about kindness. Oh, come on. Superpower, empathy, care, compassion. It's not about power, dominance, and aggression. That said, I do think the notion of, you know, be a man is important. I'm not trying to feminize the frame. But this notion of empathy, I talk to my kids all the time about it. Man, when your friends laugh because someone's accent or how they're talking, every time my kid does something like that, I literally looked, I grabbed them and look them in the face.

58:59Gavin Newsom:You don't talk like that, man. Don't talk like that. It's not who you are. And I create an indelible thing. It's not who you are and talk in those terms. That's not who I think you are. No, it's not who you are and you want to be a man, you have the back of that kid that's being bullied. You have the back of the kid that's being chastised. That's what masculinity looks like. That's what a leader does. And so to me, that's the superpower I want them to have. And that's to me the most important character test. Where I failed is I struggle with this. You ask about Iran, you talk about Israel, you talk about two years from now, I've just not been as present as I need to be.

59:41Gavin Newsom:And this is, you know, I'm not making an excuse, but this is the price of these positions. And I really think about that going forward. My son, he's not all into this stuff. And he's at that critical age. And I don't want to be on that rocking chair. I said, I would have, could have, shoulda. And so I just think I need to be more present. And it's not what we say, it's what we do. It's how we, you know, he's watching how I treat my wife. He's watching not what I say, but what I do. And if I'm there for her and I'm around. And so I think about that as a shortcoming. You're in a constant attack as our other political leaders and as is your wife, the first partner, does that inject stress into your relationship?

1:00:31And if so, how do you deal with it? Yeah, it's brutal.

1:00:35Gavin Newsom:I mean, no holds barred. I mean, you become a caricature. You become a, you know, come on, turn on Fox. I'm getting the full Hillary Clinton treatment or Pelosi treatment. And you become dehumanized. I worry about that from a safety perspective. And, you know, no holds barred now. going after your kids. I had to pull my daughter out of her school. I'll never forget, talk about regrets. Her eighth grade graduation was in our living room. I was so proud of her, Scott. Forgive me, I now, I don't know why I'm getting emotional. I was so proud of her just in terms of being a dad. I talked about my sons, about being men, but I was so proud when she gave a speech.

1:01:20Gavin Newsom:And I just said, look over my head, because then it'll look like, and she looked up and she said, Dad, did you see? I never looked down when I gave my graduation speech. It was in front of seven of us. That was the front of the family, her brothers and sisters. And I was just so proud of her. But I was also so upset with myself that she didn't have the experience of being there with her classmates because of some of the stuff related to her dad. And that was the middle of my recall at the time. And so, yeah, I remember reaching out to Ted Cruz when someone went after his daughter. And Ted and I, trust me, don't agree on much.

1:01:54Gavin Newsom:But man, we agree on that. That's not right. And, you know, people's wise, I guess some cases when, you know, fair game. In other cases, it's just hard. So forgive the long one. No one cares. You know, hearing me say this, as human beings, I just, you know, I know we love to hate politicians. But at the end of the day, they're still parents. And they still are husbands wise, human beings. And, you know, that's why I don't, that's why I have Republicans on my podcast. That's why, man, divorce is not an option in life. And that's why service is so important. And we're just going to have to figure all this shit out.

1:02:31And last thing, Governor, in your book, you were very, quite raw and pretty authentic about your failings as a son towards the end of your mother's life. Can you talk a little bit about that and advice you would have for sons as with aging parents?

1:02:47Gavin Newsom:Well, I just, I called the book Young Man in a Hurry. You know, I was, it was all about me and I was just dealing with my own insecurities, my own anxieties, put a mask on and, uh, you know, tried to be what I thought it needed to be. Um, but my face was starting to grow into it. I was becoming someone I wasn't and I wasn't present. I wasn't there for my mom. I wasn't there for my sister. Um, and, uh, and the people that mattered most. And it took a phone call from my mom, which you're referring to in a book where she left a voice message that says everything. Talk about a young man in hurry was never around.

1:03:21Gavin Newsom:She had to leave a voice message saying that her last day in life was a few days later on a Thursday where she was going to do assisted suicide. She was in so much pain because of advanced cancer. And she just left the message saying, well, if you want to see me before then, it will be my last day. And it was such a wake-up call. And, you know, you don't get it over. There are no do-overs here, man. You know, don't dream of it. Back to dream of regret. I don't want to dream regretting. And, you know, I sat there with her last breath. And, you know, it was a tough moment being there with her, holding her hands until she took her last breath.

1:03:58Gavin Newsom:And, you know, I still didn't have the courage to say what I said to her after she passed away. And I stood there 30 minutes, sitting there with my hand, my head on her stomach, just saying all the things that I wish I could have said and had the courage and guts to say before she passed. And, you know, I don't wish that on anybody. And so you want to be a man, you want to be a son, you want to be a leader, then, you know, man up. Be a partner. Be a caregiver. Be other people oriented. It's not just about you. And, you know, it came for me a little bit later than it should have. But I hope and pray for others.

1:04:37Gavin Newsom:It doesn't for them. Gavin Newsom is an American politician and businessman who serves as the 40th governor of California. Governor, very much appreciate your service. Thank you, Scott. Wonderful to be with you.

1:04:53This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez and Laura Genere. Cami Reek is our social producer. Bianca Rosario Ramirez is our video editor. And Drew Burrows is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the Prop G pod from Prop G Media.