This is Gavin Newsom - November 04, 2025


And, This Is A Final Election Day Push With Aaron Parnas

Hosted by
Gavin Newsom
Guests
Aaron Parnas
Mentioned
Donald Trump Pete Buttigieg Chair Powell Lilly Singh Twin Peaks Bill Nye Priyanka Wally Priyam Gawali Greg Bovino Cittarelli Brandeis Mandani Cuomo
And, This Is Flooding The Zone With Truth Ft. Ben Meiselas of MeidasTouch And, This Is How The World Looks At Us Under Trump With Ian Bremmer

Episode Stats


Length

19 minutes

Words per minute

175.47

Word count

3,429

Sentence count

279

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom joins me to talk about why he s running for re-election and why he thinks it s a good idea. And we talk about how important it is to get out and vote on Nov. 6.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart podcast.
00:00:04.080 On the podcast Health Stuff, we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night.
00:00:08.740 I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally, a double board certified physician.
00:00:11.920 And I'm Hari Kondabolu, a comedian and someone who once Googled,
00:00:15.160 do I have scurvy at 3 a.m. And on our show, we're talking about health in a different way,
00:00:19.980 like our episode where we look at diabetes.
00:00:22.780 In the United States, I mean, 50 percent of Americans are pre-diabetic.
00:00:26.840 How preventable is type 2?
00:00:30.260 Extremely.
00:00:31.440 Listen to Health Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00:37.880 The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day.
00:00:43.040 My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day.
00:00:46.800 Stories that move markets.
00:00:48.320 Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut.
00:00:52.320 Impact politics.
00:00:53.480 Change businesses.
00:00:54.220 This is a really stunning development for the AI world and how you think about your bottom line.
00:01:01.840 Listen to The Big Take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the iHeartRadio app,
00:01:06.580 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:08.960 Hey, I'm Cal Penn, and on my new podcast, Here We Go Again, we'll take today's trends and headlines and ask,
00:01:16.460 why does history keep repeating itself?
00:01:19.260 Each week, I'm calling up my friends like Bill Nye, Lilly Singh, and Pete Buttigieg
00:01:23.780 to talk about everything from the space race to movie remakes to psychedelics.
00:01:28.900 Put another way, are you high?
00:01:30.860 Look, the world can seem pretty scary right now, but my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future.
00:01:38.840 Listen and subscribe to Here We Go Again with Cal Penn on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:45.280 The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years
00:01:55.080 until a local housewife, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. 0.67
00:02:02.460 America, y'all better work the hell up. 1.00
00:02:04.560 Bad things happen to good people in small towns.
00:02:09.280 Listen to Graves County on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:02:20.520 And to binge the entire season ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
00:02:28.020 Hey, I'm Kyle McLaughlin.
00:02:29.820 You might know me as that guy from Twin Peaks, Sex and the City, or just the internet stand.
00:02:34.500 I have a new podcast called What Are We Even Doing, where I embark on a noble quest to understand the brilliant chaos of youth culture.
00:02:44.960 Each week, I invite someone fascinating to join me to talk about navigating this high-speed rollercoaster we call reality.
00:02:52.420 Join me and my delightful guests every Thursday, and let's get weird together in a good way.
00:02:57.240 Listen to What Are We Even Doing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:03:05.180 I'm super excited today, folks, to be joined by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
00:03:09.120 Governor, great to be here. Important day, Prop 50, Election Day.
00:03:13.000 What are you seeing right now across your state?
00:03:15.320 Just unbelievable energy, and the turnout already has been extraordinary.
00:03:20.160 What I mean by that is Election Day has been going on for weeks and weeks,
00:03:24.360 and it ends at 8 o'clock tonight, and we've just seen a remarkable number of ballots that have already been dropped off,
00:03:31.500 and drop boxes have been sent in mail in the registrar's office.
00:03:35.300 So this is going to be—we think it's going to be a big, big night.
00:03:38.560 It's going to be a big, big statement about not only who we are in California,
00:03:43.420 but a statement about who we are across the United States,
00:03:45.820 since this has really galvanized folks from all 50 states in a way that I never began with and never fully could have imagined.
00:03:55.020 Well, I mean, I guess I got to ask you, Prop 50, what's Democratic turnout like?
00:03:59.560 I mean, are you seeing enough right now in early voting trends?
00:04:03.160 Do you think we got this in the bag?
00:04:04.800 Yeah, look, I mean, you don't want to ever say that.
00:04:07.080 I don't want to jinx that.
00:04:07.960 On election day, I'm not naive.
00:04:09.860 But also, you know, it's not just feelings, not just intellectual.
00:04:13.920 I mean, we've really stress-tested this, and we've kicked the tires.
00:04:18.380 We don't screw around with these elections.
00:04:20.800 And so we're looking at every angle where, you know, if we see a good poll, we're like,
00:04:24.920 no, what are we missing about this?
00:04:27.000 And, you know, so we've really, you know, we've digested not only that anxiety,
00:04:34.280 we've also organized around it with 250 organizations that have been on the ground,
00:04:40.220 one of the largest grassroots campaigns that I've ever been involved with.
00:04:43.900 And this is only 11, 12 weeks old.
00:04:46.460 The fact that we had to literally ask people to stop sending us money
00:04:50.120 because we had 1.2 million contributions.
00:04:52.900 We blew past our small dollar amount, and I was very sensitive at a time
00:04:57.280 when we're cutting food stamps and health care premiums are going up.
00:05:00.320 People are feeling the anxiety around a jobs market that's not obviously as robust
00:05:04.580 as it was six to eight months ago, that $10, $20 matters.
00:05:09.320 But we're sort of dialing it up, even though we dialed back the fundraiser.
00:05:14.060 We've dialed up our grassroots and our ground game.
00:05:17.220 And it just, it feels right, and it feels good, but it is a special election.
00:05:22.900 And anything could happen, to your point, on a special election.
00:05:25.700 Well, I got to ask you, before we talk about kind of what this means nationally
00:05:28.900 and the kind of next steps for the party,
00:05:30.580 I want to ask you about a report that I kind of put out over the past day or so,
00:05:34.100 and that's the Trump administration was considering sending a deputy AG
00:05:36.820 out to California to monitor elections.
00:05:39.280 They were sending federal monitors.
00:05:41.480 People messaged me, they said that they were worried,
00:05:43.480 just generally hearing that the DOJ was sending folks out to California.
00:05:47.300 Do you have any response?
00:05:48.380 Are things going kind of smoothly right now?
00:05:50.300 Yeah, look, we're flooding the zone.
00:05:53.560 For every one person they put out there, we're going to have 10 people monitoring the monitors.
00:05:57.500 We're not screwing around, nor is Donald Trump screwing around.
00:06:00.640 And you may have seen what he just sent out this morning, just a few hours ago.
00:06:04.180 Donald Trump sent out a true social saying he's looking at criminal investigation
00:06:09.480 because he already is alleging this election is rigged.
00:06:13.320 Again, he knows he's going to lose.
00:06:14.960 This is the Election Rigging Response Act because he also knows he's going to lose the 2026 midterms.
00:06:21.820 And this is why I keep saying, everybody, eyes wide open.
00:06:26.400 This is not just about the maps here in California.
00:06:30.220 He's mapping out a way of guaranteeing his victory in the midterms in 2026 and beyond.
00:06:38.580 As you say, sending out election monitors that are not needed, that have no basis,
00:06:45.480 has no business being out here in a statewide election for a statewide constitutional amendment.
00:06:51.500 He has mass men like Greg Bovino that showed up at the campaign kickoff of Proposition 50
00:06:56.620 to intimidate folks.
00:06:58.140 That is a preview of things to come at polling places all across the United States.
00:07:02.540 If you thought we were overstating things in June around the federalization of the National Guard,
00:07:08.440 where we said in June, this is a preview of things to come across the United States.
00:07:12.920 We've seen it in D.C., in Portland, in Chicago.
00:07:15.240 And you're going to see it now as he starts to put Trump personnel in military braces all across the United States.
00:07:21.860 And he's organized that very openly come this January to have quick deployment.
00:07:26.940 This is all around 2026, alleging that Prop 50 is already rigged because there's mail-in ballots
00:07:35.800 and alleging criminal, suggesting criminal activities occurring, is chilling.
00:07:42.900 But trust me, to your question, forgive the long-winded response, we're not screwing around.
00:07:47.780 We've set aside millions of dollars for our legal defense.
00:07:50.520 We're there today making sure we're monitoring the monitors so there's nothing happening that is not going to be recorded.
00:08:00.220 And I think that has to be our posture as Democrats with that kind of vigilance going through 2026.
00:08:07.000 Well, I want to talk about 2026.
00:08:08.640 What do you think tonight means for 2026, I guess nationally?
00:08:12.960 Because all trends show not just Democrats winning potentially in Prop 50 in California, but also Virginia, New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
00:08:21.340 I mean, really across the board.
00:08:22.620 So what does a Democrat win tonight across the board tell you heading into 2026?
00:08:27.800 Well, that the people showed up, that the people watching, they had our backs.
00:08:32.300 And they gave us a spine.
00:08:34.120 And to the folks watching, you showed up, not just for yourselves, but for each other.
00:08:40.240 Seven million of you showed up, you know, talking about the fact there are no crowns, there's no thrones, there's no kings in this country.
00:08:47.260 And you're going to show up in extraordinary numbers in New Jersey and Virginia that sent the Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania.
00:08:53.360 And obviously with this, you know, remarkably gifted young man who will be the next mayor in New York City.
00:09:00.260 And the energy and the clarity, the message that you will send is powerful.
00:09:07.980 And that the Democratic Party, to your question, is back on its toes.
00:09:11.720 We're not on our heels.
00:09:13.500 We're winning again.
00:09:15.240 And we're finding our confidence.
00:09:17.280 We're finding our sea legs.
00:09:19.020 We're winning the message nationwide on health care.
00:09:22.080 It's universal because we're connecting to universal values.
00:09:25.880 It's not a Republican or Democratic framework.
00:09:28.220 It's about all of us, all being better off, we're all better off, focusing on hunger, focusing on food.
00:09:33.780 These are universal frameworks that I think just are going to create some remarkable momentum.
00:09:40.540 This is a big, do not understate this, this is a big night for this country.
00:09:46.840 It's a big night for democracy.
00:09:48.760 It's a big night for the Democratic Party.
00:09:51.260 Do you feel like the tide is kind of shifting?
00:09:53.260 I mean, I have messages every day of folks telling me, I feel the energy shifting, right?
00:09:58.240 For the first time in nine months, I kind of feel hope.
00:10:00.680 I feel positivity.
00:10:01.700 I feel something different.
00:10:03.640 His approval rating is at an all-time low, disapproval at an all-time high.
00:10:07.340 I feel like things are changing a little bit.
00:10:09.640 Look, across the spectrum, and you saw that numerically to your point about the fact that
00:10:14.080 he's historically unpopular, even more unpopular than he was.
00:10:17.280 After January 6th, higher disapproval rate.
00:10:21.620 He's hit every category and every issue.
00:10:24.760 Name an issue on crime, the border, immigration, name an issue.
00:10:28.620 He's under, I mean, it's extraordinary.
00:10:31.200 So he is a weak president.
00:10:33.540 He's failing.
00:10:35.560 The fact is, I think, coming crystal clear, I think he's absorbing that fact.
00:10:41.300 Again, what was the Election-Reganing Response Act all about?
00:10:44.420 It was about the fact that he knows he's going to lose the midterm elections unless he rigs
00:10:48.900 the election.
00:10:49.800 That's why he needs not just Texas, but that's why he's going to need their help in the special
00:10:54.420 session up there in Indiana and Missouri, what he was able to do in North Carolina, and
00:10:59.280 obviously what he's going to try to do in Florida.
00:11:01.720 But again, that's weakness.
00:11:04.160 And I'm not even sure he's masquerading his strength anymore.
00:11:06.640 It's just weakness across the board.
00:11:08.820 So, and you can see this.
00:11:10.280 You can read between the lines.
00:11:11.500 The last few weeks, I just feel like he's one click behind.
00:11:17.120 He's nowhere to be found.
00:11:18.320 There's no clicks.
00:11:19.180 No one wants to be associated with him in Virginia, in New Jersey, certainly in California.
00:11:25.780 I mean, this guy is out on an island, honestly.
00:11:29.840 I felt like he was away last week and he didn't even really matter.
00:11:34.180 I mean, there was no deal.
00:11:35.320 It didn't matter.
00:11:37.220 So, I sense, I don't want to overstate this.
00:11:40.480 You saw him today trying to get in the game.
00:11:42.240 Hey, what about me with Cuomo?
00:11:43.700 What about me out here and, you know, saying he's going to sort of investigate us for criminal
00:11:49.060 activity in California.
00:11:50.480 Something's happening.
00:11:51.280 So, I think those folks that are saying that to you are absolutely right and spot on.
00:11:56.240 But we have a lot of work to do going into 2026 because of those dark clouds.
00:12:01.060 And this guy will get more desperate.
00:12:03.340 And again, the rules do not apply to him.
00:12:05.040 It's the rule of dawn.
00:12:05.960 And we have to, I think, be mindful of that.
00:12:08.320 Listen, I tend to agree with you.
00:12:09.340 I mean, I think the fact that an incumbent president isn't campaigning in New Jersey,
00:12:12.980 isn't campaigning in Virginia, why isn't he holding a rally?
00:12:15.540 You would think if he was popular, if the voters supported what he was doing, he'd be out
00:12:19.940 on the ground for Sears or for Cittarelli in New Jersey.
00:12:23.080 But that's not happening right now.
00:12:24.820 It's a little different.
00:12:25.320 Look, this guy, and you're seeing it.
00:12:27.820 You're seeing it in the inflation numbers and the job numbers.
00:12:30.120 I mean, he said we were going to be richer and healthier.
00:12:33.760 We're poor and sicker in this country.
00:12:36.140 And it's dawning on everybody that this guy is wrecking this. 0.76
00:12:40.400 He's a wrecking ball.
00:12:41.480 I mean, it's not just the symbolism, the East Wing.
00:12:43.900 It's the substance.
00:12:45.860 And I think it's really starting to, honestly, I really believe this.
00:12:48.780 I think even his supporters have to start feeling some real deep anxiety about this moment
00:12:54.280 in this presidency.
00:12:55.780 And so that's why we have to dial things up.
00:12:57.880 This is the beginning of, I think, our rebirth and renewal as a party.
00:13:02.960 And what I also love about this is I hope we don't get in this old binary, this notion
00:13:07.620 that it's either or.
00:13:08.600 Is Mandani the future of the party?
00:13:10.760 Or is it these two remarkably gifted governors in these two more moderate states?
00:13:16.620 I think it's both and.
00:13:18.340 And I think that's the bigger picture, this opportunity that we're building a bigger tent
00:13:22.520 as a party.
00:13:23.620 That's we need to bring more people into this party. 0.99
00:13:27.180 Many parts, one body.
00:13:28.660 And I think if we can stay there as a party and be a little bit judgmental around, you
00:13:34.780 know, which direction we need to go, we know that the obstacle is the way.
00:13:39.020 We've got to address Trump and Trumpism.
00:13:41.000 But as we find our way back, we also know the message that matters.
00:13:45.740 And that's this economy is broken for too many people.
00:13:48.480 The economy is not nourishing for enough people.
00:13:50.880 We've got a generation, 30 and younger, that are not doing better than their parents'
00:13:54.680 generation for the first time in U.S. history.
00:13:56.460 We've got 10 percent of people that own two-thirds of wealth in this country.
00:14:00.140 We have to democratize our economy to save our democracy.
00:14:05.580 Now, Governor, before I let you go, you talk about we have a lot of work to do.
00:14:08.800 Give people a call to action.
00:14:10.140 What do people watching this need to know heading after tonight into 2026, into 2028,
00:14:15.360 just beyond?
00:14:16.520 Give them a call to action.
00:14:18.040 Well, I think they're doing it.
00:14:19.240 You know, it's sharing our passion with action.
00:14:22.540 It's showing up.
00:14:23.580 It's actually being present.
00:14:25.040 It's continuing to organize.
00:14:28.100 It's about citizenship at the end of the day.
00:14:30.400 Justice Brandeis said this beautifully, said in a democracy, the most important office is
00:14:34.900 office of citizen, active, non-inert citizenship.
00:14:39.300 And so this notion of self-organizing community, people coming together across their differences,
00:14:43.900 you're seeing it, not just in terms of the large rallies, but you're seeing it in these
00:14:47.840 organizational constructs, people going online, getting offline, standing in line for one
00:14:53.960 another, lifting other people up and continuing to call folks like me to a higher level of
00:14:59.740 responsibility and accountability to be more clear and more focused on messaging, flooding
00:15:06.300 the zone, winning arguments, setting the agenda, and being more forceful moving forward.
00:15:11.960 So again, I just think continuing to do what we've done because people haven't given up.
00:15:16.400 He, this guy thrives on one thing, exhaustion.
00:15:19.520 He wanted to exhaust us, stocking on, just become overwhelmed.
00:15:24.900 And I think it's becoming overwhelmingly obvious to Donald Trump that he's losing and we're winning.
00:15:31.980 And so we have to keep this momentum.
00:15:34.540 Eyes on the balls, folks, on the ball.
00:15:37.060 It's 2026.
00:15:38.200 Please, I pray that we don't get ahead in that 2028 race. 0.98
00:15:43.160 Please don't.
00:15:44.280 It's all about 2026.
00:15:47.140 It's all about restoring a co-equal branch of government.
00:15:51.080 It's all about the rule of law so that we can maintain this framework of popular sovereignty
00:15:56.360 so we'll have a free and fair election in 2028.
00:15:59.800 California Governor Gavin Newsom, great to be here.
00:16:01.800 Good luck tonight.
00:16:02.600 Thank you so much for joining me today.
00:16:04.100 Really appreciate it.
00:16:04.740 Thank you.
00:16:05.120 Great to be with you.
00:16:06.160 Talk to you soon.
00:16:07.400 Thank you.
00:16:07.920 On the podcast Health Stuff, we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night.
00:16:11.880 I'm Dr. Priyam Gawali, a double board certified physician.
00:16:15.300 And I'm Hari Kondabolu, a comedian and someone who once Googled,
00:16:18.580 do I have scurvy at 3 a.m.?
00:16:20.620 And on our show, we're talking about health in a different way,
00:16:23.440 like our episode where we look at diabetes.
00:16:25.520 In the United States, I mean, 50% of Americans are pre-diabetic.
00:16:30.880 How preventable is type 2?
00:16:33.800 Extremely.
00:16:34.980 Listen to Health Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:16:40.280 The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News keeps you on top of the biggest stories of the day.
00:16:46.480 My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day.
00:16:50.260 Stories that move markets.
00:16:51.740 Chair Powell opened the door to this first interest rate cut.
00:16:55.780 Impact politics.
00:16:56.940 Change businesses.
00:16:58.180 This is a really stunning development for the AI world.
00:17:02.100 And how you think about your bottom line.
00:17:05.280 Listen to The Big Take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the iHeartRadio app,
00:17:10.020 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:17:13.080 Hey, I'm Cal Penn.
00:17:14.520 And on my new podcast, Here We Go Again, we'll take today's trends and headlines and ask,
00:17:19.820 why does history keep repeating itself?
00:17:22.100 Each week, I'm calling up my friends like Bill Nye, Lilly Singh, and Pete Buttigieg
00:17:27.220 to talk about everything from the space race to movie remakes to psychedelics.
00:17:32.300 Put another way, are you high?
00:17:34.980 Look, the world can seem pretty scary right now.
00:17:37.700 But my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future.
00:17:42.280 Listen and subscribe to Here We Go Again with Cal Penn on the iHeartRadio app,
00:17:46.300 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:17:52.100 The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky, went unsolved for years.
00:17:59.080 Until a local housewife, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. 0.67
00:18:05.920 America, y'all better wake the hell up. 1.00
00:18:07.980 Bad things happen to good people in small towns.
00:18:17.580 Listen to Graves County on the iHeartRadio app,
00:18:20.340 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:18:23.980 And to binge the entire season ad-free,
00:18:26.420 subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
00:18:31.400 Hey, I'm Kyle McLaughlin.
00:18:33.320 You might know me as that guy from Twin Peaks,
00:18:35.880 Sex and the City, or just the internet stand.
00:18:38.320 I have a new podcast called What Are We Even Doing?
00:18:42.380 where I embark on a noble quest
00:18:44.500 to understand the brilliant chaos of youth culture.
00:18:47.880 Each week, I invite someone fascinating to join me
00:18:51.080 to talk about navigating this high-speed rollercoaster we call reality.
00:18:55.940 Join me and my delightful guests every Thursday.
00:18:58.500 And let's get weird together, in a good way.
00:19:01.380 Listen to What Are We Even Doing?
00:19:03.140 on the iHeartRadio app,
00:19:05.040 Apple Podcasts,
00:19:06.100 or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:19:08.720 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:19:09.940 que fueron grateful for your friends tutors.
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00:19:14.980 What are wir even doing on a podcast?
00:19:15.660 Maybe we are even doing a podcast.
00:19:17.460 the podcast is going to be a podcast,
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00:19:19.880 We love you.
00:19:20.720 Believe it just waters.
00:19:21.340 Hope it makes youatch with VirginiaStrike.
00:19:22.680 Because you're so high-attend.
00:19:23.440 Через follow us.
00:19:24.640 We'll change the podcast today.
00:19:25.220 We'll change the podcast.
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