Gavin Newsom’s recent admission that he’s “considering” a 2028 White House run landed like a thunderclap on Sunday, and Fox’s Gutfeld! panel didn’t waste time unpacking what that would mean for the country. Newsom told CBS’s Sunday Morning he’d be “lying” to say he wasn’t thinking about it, and conservative commentators rightly point out that the national press loves to crown governors who are nothing more than celebrity CEOs with left-wing policies.
Let’s be blunt: Californians have lived under Newsom’s policies and seen the consequences—rising crime, cratering schools, and an exodus of families and businesses—and yet he wants to sell that model to the rest of America. He’s been building a national profile, podcasting and posing in photo ops in early primary states like he’s practicing for a reality show, not governing for results. Conservatives should call out the obvious contrast between California’s chaos and the American workers who actually want safe streets and affordable homes.
This isn’t just about personalities. Newsom is pushing Proposition 50, a power grab to let California redraw districts to lock in more Democrats, which tells you everything you need to know about his view of democracy—win at any cost. Voters deserve to know that a governor willing to manipulate maps at home is the same man who would run a campaign built on political engineering rather than earning votes on ideas. Americans who believe in fair play should reject those tactics wherever they surface.
Newsom’s timeline is telling: he says he’ll decide after the 2026 midterms, and his current term expires in January 2027, leaving him a window to pivot into national politics if he chooses. That kind of timing is classic political opportunism—keeping options open while the country deals with real issues—and it should make every conservative vigilant. Don’t underestimate the Democrats’ ability to coronate a celebrity governor; they do it every cycle when the media wants a new face to prop up.
Greg Gutfeld and his panel were right to mock the spectacle while warning Republicans not to be complacent; Newsom has charm, money, and a media pipeline, which makes him dangerous even if his record is a disaster. Conservatives need to be clever: expose the contrast between glitzy rhetoric and the measurable outcomes Californians endure, and remind voters that competence and common sense beat virtue-signaling every time. The GOP can win this fight if it stops treating Newsom as a punchline and starts treating him as the credible threat he’s trying to be.
At the end of the day this is a test of our movement’s resolve: will we stand by while a coastal elite sells failed policies as a blueprint for America, or will we make the case for prosperity, security, and family? The conservative answer should be clear—organize, expose, and offer a real alternative that puts hardworking Americans first. If Republicans do their job, Americans will see through the resume of platitudes and choose policies that actually rebuild opportunity.
