California Governor Gavin Newsom recently recorded his first episode of his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom,” where he interviewed ultra conservative activist and radio host Charlie Kirk.
Even if you may not know his name, chances are you have seen Kirk’s videos on any social media platform. He is most notable for engaging in heated debates on college campuses across the country on topics such as the importance of college, transgender rights, abortion, and immigration.
Many of Kirk’s beliefs fall on the idea that the young, white, and Christian man is no longer able to prosper in America due discriminatory practices by the government, like Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Kirk also has a strong belief that a college education can oftentimes be a scam. Kirk said in the podcast that “41 percent of students drop out and most people never end up using their degrees.” Kirk himself did not graduate from any university, and cited unconfirmed figures.
“I think Charlie Kirk is intelligent, regardless of his beliefs,” Tamalpais High School senior Scott Olinger said. “He knows how to argue, and is a very logical thinker.” Olinger does not agree with most of Kirk’s political beliefs, yet respects his dedication to his cause.
As I am a strong supporter of Newsom, I think this podcast episode is extremely alarming. Newsom gives center stage to an influencer who gained his platform largely due to his conservative Christian views and targeting of the youth population.
Though Kirk is extremely knowledgeable and excels at debating, Kirk possesses a misguided view of who is the average american. He fights for a young white man who is oppressed by the government, yet this person is not the majority. 
I’m guessing the average American is less offended by LGBTQ+ rights and more worried about paying their rent or affording groceries. I would also wager that the average American is less scared of so-called criminal immigrants who pay taxes, and more concerned about having proper medical care for their children.
The basis on which Charlie Kirk bases his arguments distract his audience from the real issues that his party has brought to this country following the 2024 election. Newsom’s inability to shut down these conversations and confront the real socio-economic issues is concerning.
Kirk dominates the media, posting videos on the social media platforms X and Tiktok most often where he has over 10.5 million followers across the two platforms.
“I think [Kirk] is a horrible person and a misogynist. He spreads a lot of hateful messages on his platforms and stuff that’s blatantly false,” Tam senior Sam Zail said. “I know he thinks the 2020 election was rigged. Furthermore, he is an extremist in terms of religion and he wants the U.S. to be a Christian country.”
Newsom, who attended Redwood High School and played baseball at the College of Marin, is a Democrat and an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, specifically transgender rights. In the episode, when a discussion arose over transgender students’ participation in youth and NCAA sports, specifically in women’s sports, the two agreed with each other.
“It’s an issue of fairness,” Newsom said. Newsom, a strong advocate for transgender rights made it be known during the podcast how transgender people are more likely to have anxiety, depression, and commit suicide as well as how he is frustrated with how “the way people talk down to vulnerable communites is an issue that I have a problem with,”.
There are over 540,000 athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Out of those 540,000, only 10 are transgender, according to an article by NBC News. This means that less than .0019 percent of college athletes are transgender.
Despite the statistics, the Republican Party repeatedly tries to scare voters into believing this is a massive issue when in reality it is entirely irrelevant to the way our country runs.
“ Republicans in particular, use it (transgender participation in sports) to intimidate their supporters into thinking their children are in danger,” Tam High senior Skyler Cecchi said.
Though I believe that it is genetically unfair for transgender athletes to compete with athletes of different birth sexes in collegiate and youth athletics, their participation does not raise the prices of gas, endanger my family, or affect me in any way. For that reason I don’t see a reason for this to be a hot topic in the media.
Republicans like Charlie Kirk cling to issues that don’t affect Americans, and use them to scare conservatives into voting for their candidates. Gavin Newsom’s inability to shoot down these tangents during the podcast episode is disappointing. I support the governor, but need to see a stronger position that represents what he and the Democratic party stand for if I were to consider voting for him in the 2028 election.
