Gavin Newsom used the spotlight on Elex Michaelson’s brand-new CNN show to brag that Joe Rogan won’t have him on and to suggest Rogan is somehow too timid to face him — a pathetic bit of political theater from a governor angling for national attention. Newsom’s debut appearance on The Story Is was clearly designed to elevate his profile while painting himself as the offended party in a manufactured feud.
Hardworking Americans should be skeptical when a career-polished politician tries to turn a talk-show snub into a virtue signal. Dave Rubin has now amplified the moment by sharing a DM clip that shows Newsom explaining, bluntly, why he thinks Rogan won’t host him — proof that this isn’t spontaneous honesty so much as a staged attempt to score culture-war points.
Let’s call this what it is: performative desperation from a governor who’s quietly weighing a national run and needs every bit of media oxygen he can get. Newsom has openly flirted with a 2028 bid while using cable moments like this to manufacture relevance, even as he lectures the rest of America about leadership and courage.
We know Joe Rogan reaches millions and thrives on unfiltered conversation, which is precisely why elites like Newsom are threatened by him; Rogan doesn’t play by cocktail-party rules and he doesn’t bow to donor script. Yet Newsom’s claim that Rogan is “too afraid” reeks of projection: the man who talks tough to California voters suddenly puffs himself up about a podcast he repeatedly criticizes. TheWrap reported on the exchange and Rogan’s prior digs, and Americans can see who’s posturing.
This episode is emblematic of a larger problem: Democrat elites weaponize media moments to rewrite the story and avoid real scrutiny. When politicians prefabricate grievances and then leak them through friendly outlets, it’s the public that loses — our conversations are replaced by staged soundbites meant to distract from policy failures at home.
Patriots who value free speech should cheer Rogan’s independence and view Newsom’s theatrics with contempt. Real leadership faces tough questions without hiding behind a press line or a DM narrative designed for viral distribution, and conservatives should keep calling out these shallow stunts for what they are — hollow attempts to inflate a fading political brand.
