SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: California Governor Gavin Newsom surprisingly agreed with Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro on Thursday, January 15, that the question of whether boys can become girls is a huge deal-breaker for Democrats.
They talked about it on the ‘This is Gavin Newsom’ podcast.
Newsom and Shapiro tangled over school policies. The conservative commentator pushed back against teachers keeping parents in the dark when children are socially transitioning at school.
Gavin Newsom’s comments on transgender issues
During a discussion on his podcast, the Democratic governor responded to remarks from Ben Shapiro about how transgender rights debates have influenced the 2024 election and the broader political landscape.
Shapiro argued that many voters are turned off by what he calls the inability or unwillingness of Democrats to articulate a clear policy on gender identity.
“I think one of the major failings of the Democratic Party in the last election cycle is the unwillingness to say whether it was true or untrue that a boy could become a girl,” he said.
To this, Newsom responded, “We’re talking about so few people that are struggling with gender identity issues.”
“I’m with the governor, Gov Spencer Cox, who said about many of these issues, never has so much attention been placed on so few people,” he added.
While he did not endorse Shapiro’s framing outright, the governor acknowledged the point in the context of broader electoral challenges facing Democrats.
Gavin Newsom says he understands Ben Shapiro’s thinking
“The problem is I do think that, on an electoral level, to go to the politics, it is a barrier to entry for a lot of people when you say a boy can become a girl,” Shapiro said about trans individuals.
Newsom agreed that this cultural debate has created a political barrier for some voters, saying that if certain issues related to transgender identity make people less likely to support the Democratic Party, “so be it.”
“I respect if that’s your barrier to then listening to people on a myriad of other issues,” Newsom said. “So be it. It is what it is.”
“I find it strange that even if you wish to have a public policy that pursues something different, we cannot just admit that boys and girls are two different things and that a boy cannot become a girl,” Shapiro said. “Why is this so difficult?”
“Yeah, I understand your point of view,” Newsom replied, later saying that Shapiro is a “facts over empathy guy.”
Newsom has been a long-time supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. But he has also had a nuanced stance lately.
Speaking with The New York Times’ Ezra Klein, Newsom said, “I want to see trans kids. I have a trans godson. There’s no governor who has signed more pro-trans legislation than I have. No one has been a stronger advocate for the LGBTQ community.”
