CNN —
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said transgender athletes playing in women’s sports is “an issue of fairness” in a break from most Democrats’ position on the topic.
“Well, I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said in a podcast episode with conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I revere sports, and so the issue of fairness is completely legit. And I saw that the last couple of years. Boy did I saw how [Republicans] were able to weaponize that issue at another level,” he said.
Newsom addressed both sides of the issue, saying, “You know that these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well. So both things I can hold in my hand.”
Newsom’s comments come after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports, delivering on a political issue central to his 2024 campaign.
Other Democrats have gotten pushback for comments similar to Newsom’s. Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts has been vocal about transgender policies and told The New York Times in November that identity politics, particularly around transgender rights, hurt Democrats in the election, saying, “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete. But as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Moulton got criticism from Democrats for his comments, and his campaign manager, Matt Chilliak, resigned in response to the remarks, according to The Boston Globe.
Newsom has a long record of supporting LGBTQ rights. He ordered the city and county of San Francisco to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004 after being elected mayor of San Francisco.
The California governor’s comments come as he eyes a potential 2028 presidential bid, having watched Republicans wield the issue against Democrats last cycle.
Transgender policies were a major factor in the advertising wars of the 2024 presidential race, as Trump and his allies leaned into sharp attacks on former Vice President Kamala Harris’ record, running waves of stark TV spots.
“Kamala’s agenda is they/them, not you,” said one ad, referring to the pronouns used by some transgender and non-binary individuals.
Newsom called the ad “devastating” to her campaign during the podcast. He went further, saying, “She didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating.”
In total, Republican advertisers spent more than $60 million on ads that referenced transgender policies and LGBTQ rights during the 2024 presidential campaign, some of which included specific references to athletics participation, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.
The debate spilled into some key Congressional races as well, as Republican candidates echoed the messaging from pro-Trump advertisers.
An ad from Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, who was challenged unsuccessfully by Democratic Rep. Colin Allred last year, featured several girls playing school sports as a large, dark shadow looms over them. A narrator says, “Colin Allred could have stopped men from competing in women’s sports, but instead he voted against our daughters. What kind of man does that?”
In response to the criticism, Allred became the first Democrat that year to take to the airwaves directly rebutting the attacks, saying in an ad of his own that “I don’t want boys playing girls sports or any of this ridiculous stuff that Ted Cruz is saying.”
