Pivot - Trump Comes for the Fed, The Redistricting Wars, and Guest Co-Host Gov. Gavin Newsom
Episode Date: August 29, 2025WOW! “GOVERNOR" GAVIN NEWSOM IS HERE TO CO-HOST PIVOT, WHICH MANY ARE CALLING THE BEST PODCAST OF ALL TIME! Kara and Governor Newsom discuss the latest on the redistricting fight, Trump announcing ...he’s removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and OpenAI's latest legal trouble. Also, Newsom is releasing…a memecoin? Plus, Kara asks the governor all the important questions: Will he accept a debate challenge from Ron DeSantis and Sean Hannity? What does he think of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement? Could he beat Scott in a bench pressing contest? Watch this episode on the Pivot YouTube channel. Follow us on Instagram and Threads at @pivotpodcastofficial. Follow us on Bluesky at @pivotpod.bsky.social Follow us on TikTok at @pivotpodcast. Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or at nymag.com/pivot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Oh, my God, you're interrupting already.
You're like Scott.
Scott's coming back next week, and now I've got Scott Part 2.
Hi, everyone.
This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
I'm Kara Swisher, and this is the final day of...
Scott, 3 August.
That's my sting.
I love it.
We're going big for Scott Free August grand finale.
My guest co-host is a podcaster.
He's also the governor of California and possibly the only person that could match Scott in irritating me.
It's Gavin Newsom.
Welcome, Governor.
It is great to be with you.
The final, the final day.
When's Scott back?
When's he back?
After Labor Day.
We have a day off on Labor Day because we labor a lot.
Yeah, and then he's back.
Okay.
Has he been hibernating?
Is he writing a book?
What's he doing?
What's the...
No, he's in Nantucket.
He's in Nantucket or in Aspen.
He goes to, like, rich people vacations all over the place.
And then starts tweeting at the end of August
because he wants to say something about...
Not tweeting.
He's on threads and stuff.
But he, like, starts to try to engage again,
and he's desperate to get back.
Desper to get back.
Desper to get back.
No, but if this works out well...
It's good to be back with you
on this very special final episode of Scott Free August.
Try to keep the hand gestures to a minimum because they're very irritating to the president.
I know I'm very sensitive. I mean, if people didn't see Trump attack my hand motions, he said there was, so I'm very sensitive now. You're right. I'm just going to forgive me. You're not going to see them again. I'll do my best.
No, I like your hand motions. What's wrong with you? He does a lot of hand motions. Every accusation is a confession with these people.
Another example of projection. Just one more. One more you need.
Yeah, we're going to get to that today. Got lots of important issues.
redistricting the Fed, big tech.
So talk, I think the most important thing we have to discuss is what do you think about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey's.
I think it's hard not to avoid that.
Breaking the Internet.
Breaking the Internet.
I was just thinking, you think it's going to be a big wedding or a small wedding?
You think they'll do the opposite of what many people think and where are they going to get married?
Oh, like a Jeff Bezos thing?
Yeah, I think it's going to be a little more.
My sense is going to be smaller, more.
I just think they're going to intentionally do something to surprise people.
Oh, interesting.
Not like a Super Bowl stadium kind of thing.
No, I don't expect it's going to be all that.
No, I think it's going to be family.
I think it's going to be much more just communal.
I just, I don't expect it to be over the top.
Did it catch you off guard?
No, they didn't catch me off guard.
Are you going to be invited?
Come on.
I don't know these.
I don't know them.
I'm literally never met either of them.
I do have a one, you know, sorry, and I'll need to do a little Trump thing on you,
but I have a vineyard.
That's 13th vineyard.
It's a 13th license in Napa.
And so I sent a bottle of 13th wine to her suite at the Super Bowl.
That's my biggest connection to Taylor Swift.
I have no other connection because she loves the number 13.
Do you want to have the wedding on your vineyard?
Do you think she'd happen on?
No, I'm not promoting that.
Do you think she'd have.
I mean, that's the closest I am to Taylor Swift, besides politics.
Clearly, we share politics.
Okay.
Are you happy? Do you think this is a good thing?
I think it's a great thing. I want her to be happy. She seems like a lovely person.
And he's the real deal. I'm the deep respect for him. So, you know what? We need a little bit of happiness in a world where we're so far. I mean, come on. This has been hard every day, including what happened this morning, the first week of school, right, in Minneapolis.
So this is, so we can all use a little bit of that. A little bit of love.
That's true. We can move on if you tell me your favorite song of hers.
Well, I like all of her new songs from the old catalog, so this proving I'm a Swifty.
The old catalog.
No, well, I like the old catalog, but I like all the new versions, Taylor versions of all the new songs.
So that's how comprehensive my respect for her and love is.
Okay.
I'll move on from her.
Anyway, we wish you well, Travis and Taylor.
It's going to be good.
T.T. It's going to be great.
We are getting married in California, right?
I hope so.
Yeah, I expect so.
That's my little pitch.
But I want to ask you about a less dynamic duo, Sean Hannity and Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis.
They've challenged you to another debate.
Will you accept?
I'm getting on the little news first.
Well, I think it's interesting that they challenged me because it only reinforced the first debate was Sean Hannity and Ron DeSantis.
It wasn't against Ron DeSantis and the network and the platform itself.
Fox.
I think there, I forgot, I don't mean to be too dismissive, but honestly, I kind of forgot that Ron DeSantis is still governor.
and it was sort of a bit of a reminder,
and I think maybe that's what it's all about.
Yeah, I think they're having a hard time over there at Fox.
Would you do it?
I have no interest whatsoever.
Yeah, they are.
It's sub-zero interest.
I'm saying you've become quite a bit of the debate over there.
Like, they talk about you constantly.
Yeah, no, it's a bit of an obsession.
And so, no, he's, Sean and I have, I don't know,
we're a little bit of separation now.
I was gauging, you know, as you know, I went out a couple of years ago, on a serious note,
a really sort of challenged, a lot of my Democratic friends were upset,
started showing up on Fox.
Did this sit-down interview with Sean.
It was over an hour and a half, you know, unedited.
I said, look, if you're going to come and interview me, let's do it, but no edits and let's, you know,
go after me and I'll, you know, back and forth.
And to his credit, they did multiple segments and aired the entire interview on editing,
in. And I, you know, I sort of stayed in touch. And that ultimately led to a debate with Ron DeSantis
and a debate within my own party. Should we even condone? Should we show up? Should we be on
these platforms? You're just elevating, you know, them or at least validating them in some respects.
And I thought it was important that we got to meet people where they are and we've got to get
in the bloodstream of those we disagree with. And so I've tried to maintain that. I think
it's important, but I think they're way, they've completely lost the plot over there at Fox.
There's a bit of a, you know, look, I'm the first to acknowledge that Trump derangement syndrome,
but they have a California derangement syndrome and increasingly, derangement syndrome about me on Fox.
I think the other night, they did seven or eight segments with their prime time lineup.
It's a little, it's not over the top.
It's way over the top.
And, of course, at this moment, you may know this.
I'm suing them as well for defamation.
and I don't do that lightly.
I've been on the receiving end of them
as the punching bag for years and years and years.
It's not about the criticism coming out of there.
It's just the just outright lies,
miss and disinformation.
And so we're taking them to task,
and we've got that defamation lawsuits in Delaware.
A conversation you had with Donald Trump, right,
that they were alleged.
Yeah, a conversation they said we never had.
The president said we had a day before
that never existed.
and they came out and they said I lied about it.
And they shared that on all their platforms
and they shared that around the world.
I had people, honestly, it was like interesting.
Carol, for all the stuff that's on Fox,
you know, people are socialized, they turn on Fox.
They'll see people like me getting attacked.
But this one broke into folks that I knew well,
said, hey, man, why did you lie about that?
I said, what do you mean they lied about it?
And I saw the Chiron and says Gavin Lott.
And it was just, they know,
knowingly lied about the conversation that never occurred, and the conversation that did occur,
they did not contextualize. And they just crossed the line. And, you know, I thought after all the
Dominion stuff and everything else, they had honestly at least feigned to change their ways, and they
clearly haven't. Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens there. But one of the things that's important is
you are the topic discussion. Part of it is because of the stuff you're up to right now, which I think is really
interesting, as you know. We've talked about it a little bit. We text about it. But I want to talk
about your new role. I guess troll-in-chief. I don't know, as one newspaper put it, but in the last
few weeks, you've flooded social media with all caps, posts, insults, AI-generated memes, mocking
Trump and his policies. You recently got into the merch game selling maggot-inspired Bibles, red hats, and even
make America Gavin against Lack, which is really funny. Fox News has been melting down, as you said.
Dana Prino said, if she were your wife, she'd tell you're making a fool of yourself. And while a lot of
liberals are loving this. You have critics on less. Of course, you say the Democrat needs
party needs to do more than be an anti-Trump party. I disagree. I think this is highly
effective, especially that you're not stopping. So talk a little bit of, I'd love to know this
strategy. I have an idea of why you think you're doing it. Talk about the strategy. I have
theories on it, but I'd love to hear it from you. I just wanted to put a mirror up to the absurdity
of all of this. And I wish Dana Perino and others have made that point months and months years ago.
all the old cap tweets that Trump putting himself on memes as the Pope or putting him a means of Superman
or with his shirt off and, you know, on top of, you know, different, you know, superhero characters
or, you know, dinosaurs. I mean, it's just, it's comical. And yet it's become so normalized and socialized
in a way that's not even critiqued in the extreme right. And so I just wanted to challenge that
and challenge all these pundits out,
to challenge all these people,
all these acolytes, people that are just fawning
over a guy who puts his picture up on Mount Rushmore
that does text like a 13-year-old or a 10-year-old.
It's humiliating, it's embarrassing.
And so this is the mirror,
and it's a mirror not just to Trump himself,
but to these networks that, you know,
these guys are talk about, you know,
these are the chatbots for the administration.
And it's not just Fox, it's One American News, it's Newsmax, and it's all the folks in the right-wing
media. And I'm glad they're melting down over. I'm glad they're, they're challenging,
I mean, their situational unawareness is rather jaw-dropping.
So what was the strategy? How did you come up with it? And you have given credit to the whole
team and creating these memes, but it does. Someone asked me about it, I said, well,
this does sound like him, the person I know. You can be very funny and cutting and sarcastic and
stuff like that. This is like, it's sort of in your wheelhouse to do, to sort of do this.
Talk about how it's made in the strategy. I appreciate it. Look, I think it's, there's, there's,
there's one answer to that, and then there's a subtext. This thing, really, it's about iteration.
I've always been willing to try new things. So I'm always trying to, you know, challenge my team,
just let's see what works. I mean, that's why I went on Fox. That's why I did the debate with
Ronda Santas. It's why I went, I was the first Democrats to go on true social. That's
why I started a pack a few years ago and only went to red states and started raising awareness
and resources and parts of the country where I feel the Democratic Party walked away. And
so it's part of that, but it's also specifically part of what we were on the receiving end of
after the fires in January in L.A. And before that. And just a different level of miss and disinformation.
And to your point about before that, look, the recall, these guys, you know, I'm romantic. I always think
all politics is local. I was sort of born and bred with that construct. But that's not the case,
obviously. I intellectualized that, but I never fully internalized it until the recall. And I had guys
like Newt Gingrich, and I had folks like Mike Huckabee and the RNC nationalizing their grievance.
And, of course, all the folks at Fox and One American News, et cetera, coming after us. So I started
to shift our approach then. It really got into high gear after the fires where Trump and Elon Musk were
coming after us. And they were winning on the just rank lies about water policy and all the
BS. But the National Guard, the care of the National Guard and what they did to federalize
4,000 of our National Guard men and women and put 700 active duty military on the streets of
L.A. That's when we just said we're on the other side of this. And we told the team it's no
permission slip now, not even forgiveness. You just go and we go hard and we don't stop.
you don't stop. That's what's interesting about it, because it's relentless, which is very
different. I had told, I think it was Kamala Harris, like you've got to be almost promiscuous now
from a social media point of view. You have to be everywhere constantly and not stopping,
which I think characterizes this quite a bit. And when you hear criticism is too much or cringy,
or even from the left or right, how do you answer that?
You know how I answered it? Kind of interesting, because I haven't really said this publicly,
but I send my team a YouTube video of Marshawn Lynch on 60 Minutes Sports
when he was asked his running style.
And he says, going into the front line goes over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
And so this notion of communication, I could not agree with you more.
Trump's success is the simplicity to which he communicates the same thing in that cadence,
over and over and over and over and over again.
And we move week to week.
It's infrastructure week and all of a sudden
that child care week and it's foster care week.
And as a consequence, we have weak messaging
and they're winning the narrative war.
Lusion rules.
Facts don't matter.
That's what Fox understands.
That's what Trump understands.
He floods the zone and we're constantly on our heels
and not on our front toes.
And so what we're trying to do is, yes,
fight fire with fire with the redistricting,
substance, and in terms of our communication,
style, and we're trying to keep at it, and we've done it. Look, you mentioned, you know,
the Patriot store. You know, just look at the stuff he's selling perfumes. This is embarrassing.
The guy's hawking bibles. Ours is sold out. So if you want it, sorry, it's sold out.
I was hoping to get one. And if you want a real prediction, I know we talked about the Taylor Swift
prediction. The real prediction is, you know, we're about to put a mean coin out. And you know what,
Donald Trump, we'll see how well your coin does versus our coin. I mean, I did. I'm doing the
We're just trying to turn up the heat.
The meme coin.
Is it going to be called Gavin coin?
No, it's, I think, Trump Corruption Coin.
Oh, okay.
This is one of the great grifters of our time.
This is just jaw-dropping.
And none of this is normal again.
None of this is funny.
I mean, it's funny in one respect, but it's like, it's extraordinary what's going on.
It's jaw-dropping.
His family is sent out before these foreign trips doing deals.
deals are literally done before tariffs are imposed, the crony capitalism that's going on,
the people that are selling their souls in this country, the fact that you saw there,
these guys bloviating at that.
I mean, that was, I mean, insanity yesterday at the cabinet meeting.
And Lutnik, talking about socializing and nationalizing companies like Lockheed.
I mean, this is, and you're worried about mandani and some grocery stores.
And these guys are taking tithings from AMD, 15 percent,
from Nvidia. I mean, this is serious stuff. And so the graft and the corruption, the self-dealing
is something that will continue to call out and just to be. I'm really worried about this country.
I think we've crossed the red line. I think it is much more acute and profound than many people
think. And I just trying to wake people up. That's what this is all about. Wake up everybody.
So what is the next? It has to be this aggression.
correct, which I, again, I think is the correct method. Others, you know, I think the Democratic
is far too weak in that regard in terms of behaving when they're not behaving, right? That kind of
thing. Yeah, look, I mean, I, it was so indelible. I don't know why. I'm sort of, you know,
stuck years and years my mindset. And I remember, you know, and it's, it's been well discussed,
but I'll repeat it for the few folks that don't remember it. But after we got shellacked in one of the
midterms, I think Clinton was out of office.
And the Democratic Party lost, and people were trying to sort of hand ring, and we were trying to figure out if we all need to go to Applebee's, and we were reading Applebee's America, and we all just, you know, we need to go to the heartland, all this messaging stuff.
And Bill Clinton just summed it up. He said, given the choice, given the choice, the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.
And I've been doing a lot of forensics, as you know, and people have criticized me for having folks that, you know, my party disagrees with vehemently.
like Charlie Kirk or Steve Bannon or Newt Gingrich
or even old-school conservatives like Michael Savage on.
To try to understand what the hell's happened to my party,
the Democratic Party, but the more I've sort of mind it,
the more I've gotten into the issues and reflected on what's happened,
I think it comes down, I mean, at the core,
it comes down to what you just said.
It's about weakness.
We appear so damn weak, and I can't take it anymore.
And I think our brand is struggled.
We're suffering from that.
And so what I'm trying to express, it is desired to push back to punch these guys back in the mouth.
Forgive me.
I know it's hard.
Yes, fight fire with fire.
You know, I wish you to punch harder with those interviews.
So in that my whole thing was, for example, the Tucker Carl's interview was Ted Cruz was a lot better than yours with Bannon.
That's what I would say.
You know what I mean?
You had an opportunity to engage with him.
Why not engage?
Well, you know, and this.
And forgive me.
you know, that was my second ever podcast.
I'm not the pro that some of these others are,
but I appreciate the insight.
But also, let me say this.
And sincerely, that's not, that's, I, when I started the podcast,
I said, I was very clear what this is and what this wasn't.
I said, I'm not, you want to see me debate,
tune in to Fox, you know, go online, see what I do every single day.
I have no problem fighting these guys.
I have no fighting debating.
But what that, but what I'm trying to do is have a civil conversation
because I want to understand.
And what, you know, I think the main amazing thing about the Bannon interview was I thought I was interviewing Bernie Sanders for half of it.
He was talking about populism.
He was making the case for California's tax code.
Steve Bannon was.
And, you know, I thought it was, there was interesting aspects of that.
And I think we're so tuned up in terms of wanting to tune people out because we reject obvious flaws that I want to create a space for folks where at least they can feel like we can have a civil dialogue.
And I totally get people upset about it.
They rather seem nervous about you now, which is why, hence the attacks, correct?
Presumably, it seems to be working for you, right?
Well, yeah.
And I'm trying not to make it for me.
Look, I do think, you know, once a mind's a stretch, it never goes back to its original form.
I think Donald Trump understands that.
That's why he throws things out.
He sees what works.
He's got his focus group, which is his rallies.
And increasingly, he's doing that with the media.
He does that every day, sort of testing those boundaries.
And I'm trying to do the same a little bit as it relates to the community.
communication style, how we're iterating, trying new things, and try to encourage other people.
I'll take the arrows in the back. I'll do the first mover, but hopefully get other people to feel a little more comfortable in that space.
And, you know, I see it a little bit I saw Ken Martin at the DNC. He was a little more aggressive. I feel like we're getting back on our feet.
Okay. So do you have a, I'm going to get to the more serious thing of the redistricting, but do you have a favorite of your memes?
Calling Trump Tiny Hands was nice. You're getting preyed over by Tucker.
Carlson Kid Rock and an angelic Hulk Hogan.
Oh, that was my favorite.
There's a lot of user-generated
chesty stuff going on with you there.
Yeah, they finally did some untouched photos
of me without a shirt on, which is good
to finally see something that's not edited.
Yeah.
Is there one that you like, that you're like,
well done.
No, I thought.
And it's a team of people, right?
I, come on.
I think, God bless Hulk.
I'm sorry for his passing his family's lost,
but I think that Tucker,
Kid Rock, come on.
That's why it's a T-shirt's available on the Patriot site.
And, you know, and before the meme coin, as I said, the Bible's already sold out.
And I'd encourage you that's going to be limited edition, that teacher.
Okay.
I'm excited for the stake.
Where do the proceeds from the Patriot Shop go in the meme coin?
Well, in the mean coin, that will soon be, the Trump Corruption coin, available to all of you.
All of those go to our campaign for democracy.
They go for this effort on the redistricting.
They go into this effort.
They go into our effort to continue.
to raise awareness and continue to communicate and organize.
But let's talk more seriously.
Your trolling has kicked into high gear about redistricting fight that started in Texas
and clearly spread across the country.
You signed two redistricting bills last week and called a special election for voters
to approve the new congressional map aimed at countering Texas, adding five new GOP seats.
If the ballot measure passes, Democrats could pick up as many as five-house seats in 2026.
And meanwhile, Trump said this week that DOJ will sue California over the move.
It's also divisive a little bit.
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been vocal in opposing the plan.
But on the other hand, Danny DeVito chipped in $1,000 to support it for people who don't know that.
You're driving a wedge between the classic twins stars from the 80s.
Talk a little bit about what you're doing here.
And, of course, there's been innumerable think pieces of, has he bitten off more than they can chew?
Is this the way to go?
Could other Red State governors start to participate as well as blue state?
governors. But of course, they're going to do that anyway. I mean, that punitry is so naive.
It's not even worth the paper. It's printed on. I mean, the idea that Trump was going to
stop at Texas was absurd to begin with. Remember, it was Trump who started this. They drew
a proverb of first blood. It was Trump that called Abbott said, I am entitled, not the words he
used in that first phone call, but weeks later, he said he's entitled to five seats. He is trying
to rig the election before one vote is cast. What more evidence did we need than January 6th, where
We try to light democracy on fire and wreck this country and try to dial up for 11, almost 12,000 votes to the Secretary of State in Georgia.
Now he's doing it in plain sight.
You saw on yesterday he was in the Oval Office with the Speaker of the Indiana legislature and the Senate chair saying we need to do what J.D. Vance was assigned to tell you to do a week ago.
You need to move in Indiana in Missouri.
And, of course, Ron DeSantis, who will do anything the guy asks in order to get back in his good graces.
So these guys are going.
They're not screwing around, and we can't screw around either.
And so, yeah, we're pushing back.
We'll neutralize what's happened in Texas, but we need other Democrats in other states to do the same thing.
This is it.
You don't get a do-over.
This thing can end.
Is that happening?
How are you organizing them?
Well, I'm trying to, back to this notion once of mine just, I'm hoping the legislative
leaders in those states are putting pressure.
I know the governors, like Moore and others, West Moore, has talked about it in Maryland.
Obviously, Kathy Hochel's talked a little bit about it.
Pritzker's talked a bit about it, but we got to move, you know, as we pray, we have to move
our feet, it's action.
So we got to go.
And look, back to biting off a lot, we can, I get that.
You know, we had to do it in a different way.
We're doing it a transparent way, a temporary way.
way where we're keeping our independent redistricting, which we've had for 15 years. But in a
temporary basis, we're responding to what Trump has done and what Texas has done and an emergency
manner in 26, 28, and in 2030 for congressional seats only. And we're doing it in the most
democratic way of any state in U.S. history. There's never been maps put to the voters. So they'll
decide for themselves. As opposed to the to this supermajority in a in a state.
Yeah, or whatever Marlago.
map, you know, riding folks are sending their way, which, I mean, this is, so, you know, this,
this is the contrast in the approach. And, and again, we're just, we're trying to be accountable
to this moment. I'm not interested in holding hands and talking about the world should be. I'm not
going to be the ex-governor sitting there in some think take putting on a white paper saying,
you know, I can't take that anymore. Enough everybody. We got to get in the ring. So do you feel that
you'll be able to neutralize you and other Blue State governors be able to do that?
I just, you know, I hope so.
But even if we can't, they know that Trump did this because he knows he's going to lose.
And he knows he's going to lose because he's singularly the most.
He's lost in Iowa.
Yeah, he's the most, but he's the most, lost yesterday in Iowa.
And that local race, which is great, that statewide race.
But the point being, he continues to lose.
He's going to lose in Virginia.
He's going to lose in New Jersey in those governor's races.
He can continue to see his polls are some of the worst in American history.
His policies are the most unpopular in modern American history.
He's flailing every single day.
That's what all these threats and the mortgage stuff is all about, going after enemies, threatening
to arrest people.
He's falling apart.
And as I continue to say, he's weakness masquerading his strength.
And so we have to be assertive, and we have to recognize that there are no limits with this
guy.
And he'll do, if he can rig next year's election, you're not, I mean, we joke about not having
another one. I don't think that's a joke. He will wire this for the next 20, 30 years if it's a JD
or if it's a don't, it doesn't even matter. He will wire it. He's already sending out mass people
to intimidate folks. When we launched our campaign, he did it down in Little Tokyo in LA. Do you think
ICE is not going to show up around voting and polling boost to chill participation? You know that,
the National Guard. You know that. Everybody knows
what's its stake.
So we have to put a stake in the ground
and do things differently.
For all the funny stuff you're doing,
you're absolutely right.
And what do you say to people like Schwarzenegger
and others, Munger,
who are like, let's not do this.
Let's not go here.
Well, it's romantic.
I want to, we can do a group hug.
We can, you know, we can talk, you know.
I want to go back to that place too,
but we're not in it.
I mean, it's just they've lost the plot
about the world we're living in right now.
Trump doesn't play by a different set of rules.
He doesn't play by any rules.
You're a fool if you engage in a contest playing by the rules,
and the other side doesn't play by any rules.
The consequences of that are profound.
This is about the architecture of our country.
This is about co-equal branches of government, popular sovereignty.
This is about the rule of law versus the rule of dawn.
There is no independent redistricting to those two in the future
if Trump wires this election.
There's none. It's over.
They have to recognize that.
And I get why they're holding on to this romantic notion.
And by the way, I respect their point of view so much so
that we maintain the independent redistricting commission.
But in an emergency manner, we respond to this moment.
So summed up, it's the Patrick Swayze Roadhouse rule.
Be nice until it's time not to be nice.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, I guess.
And look, we all want to be nice, and we all want to get back to that.
You know, we want the Aaron Sorkin.
We want the music in the background.
I want that.
We all want to go back to West Wing.
You know, I want to see, you know, but that's not Trump's America.
And it may not be the United States of America if we don't wake up, wake up everybody.
All right, Governor, let's go on a quick break.
When we come back, Trump's unprecedented move to control the Fed, another version of this.
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Governor Newsom, we're back.
President Trump is escalating his push
to control the Federal Reserve,
announcing this week he's removing federal governor, Lisa Cook.
Trump posted his letter to Cook on
true social, saying there was, quote, sufficient cause for removal, citing unproven allegations
of mortgage fraud.
Cook plans to sue with their lawyer, arguing Trump has no authority to order the firing.
It looks like that.
The Fed for its part is defending its independence, but it says it will buy, well, whatever.
The courts decide this is almost certainly going to the Supreme Court.
Talk a little bit about this, and then I want to talk about what's happening in the
cities that you referenced before.
No, I mean, it's what we were just talking about in the last section.
It's not the rule of law.
It's the rule of dawn.
there's there are no constraints anymore and with this Supreme Court there may actually not be any
constraints already eliminated one co-equal branch of government Ron Johnson's run to the woods
he's it's irrelevant so it's Mike Johnson it's whatever his name is he's the representative of a
district street Port Lorena that has six times the murder rate of Nancy Pelosi San Francisco
it's that guy that I'm referring to and and so there is no co-equal branch government
And the question is, is there a third branch, the judicial branch?
And with the Supreme Court, it's an open-ended question.
And so it's an open-ended question of whether or not he, quote, unquote, for cause, can have her fired.
And if you can have her fired, you can have any of the board members fired, not just Chair Powell.
And then he can start getting rid of all the regional presidents.
So now you don't have an independent monetary system.
You don't have the truth and trust around the globe.
And now we're in what, Argentina, we're in Turkey.
We're back to, you know, the good old days of Nixon and, you know, the inflationary impacts of his decisions and impacts on the Fed policy that we all enjoyed in the 70s.
And so this is, again, just another proof point of the world we're living in and why it's essential that everyone disabuse themselves that we can operate as we have in the past.
Do you imagine where he's going to strike next?
I'm obviously, he's talking of militaries and more cities.
As we talk on Wednesday, the president is still suggesting Chicago, Baltimore, and New Yorker next.
He's mentioned San Francisco.
The president has said, quote, I have the right to do anything I want.
I'm the President of the United States in response to sending the National Guard to Chicago.
Speaking of deploying troops to Baltimore, Trump wrote, if Westmore needs help, like Gavin New Scum did in L.A., I will send in the troops.
Meanwhile, in D.C., the National Guard, who were sent to deal with a crime emergency,
he's been picking up trash as a part of a beautification mission.
What say you?
because you, did he help you in L.A.?
Yeah, no, I mean, we could have used the help
because we had to protect the National Guard.
We could have used the help after he federalized them.
It was the California Highway Patrol and the LAPD
that actually had to protect the military
because that had become the attractive nuisance for protests.
But he offered no help in that respect.
The vast majority, I'll remind you,
thousands and thousands of our National Guard,
by the way, police officers, firefighters, teachers that were pulled off the beat and their day jobs,
ended up in the armories doing literally nothing, hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers.
They had nothing to do.
And the few hundred that were assigned at any different time, again, had to be protected by local law enforcement.
So this isn't, obviously, none of this has anything to do with public safety, quite the contrary.
It's about power, dominance, and aggression.
the only thing he understands. And the question is, does he have the legal right? And we completely
reject that. And I say that because I think it's important to highlight for your audience.
We are not just saying that. We have asserted that. And we were in federal court two weeks ago
doing oral arguments. We deposed members of the Trump administration under the posse commentatus framework
that the U.S. military cannot be deployed for domestic law enforcement purposes. And Justice Breyer is about to adjudicate
have the first judgment, first opinion that will be published ever on the posse comitatis
case that could have a real impact on what Trump is doing all across the United States. And so
we're trying to assert ourselves in the courts, not just the court of public opinion, and push
back against what he's doing. But I said this literally months ago, that L.A. is a preview of
things to come. D.C. is a preview. Things to come.
come in every major city across this country.
What do you do if you're a gut?
You can't keep them out, correct?
You couldn't, the troops into California.
No, we just have the legal authority to at least fight it out in the courts.
And we hope the rule of law and the constitutional provisions that we've enjoyed and, frankly,
often taken for granted for 249 years, ultimately win the day.
But, yeah, you're right.
I mean, he has the legal right to federalize troops.
He doesn't have the legal right, however, to militarize our streets for domestic law enforcement.
And that is crystal clear under the Posse Comitatis Act.
And those limits are very, very clear.
And it's a question of whether or not ultimately the United States Supreme Court will agree with that.
And that's an open-ended question, sadly.
Can those mayors in Chicago, Baltimore, and New York keep them out again?
They can't.
legally unless the courts intervene and the courts need to intervene or Congress needs to do
their job. Obviously, we already established that. But can I say this just on the topic?
Democrats need to be careful about this. You know, you're in San Francisco and just a reminder,
full disclosure, and this may offend some people. Two years ago, I deployed the California Highway
Patrol and the National Guard under state authority in partnership with city leaders and state
leaders and also engaged the federal government, the FBI with the Biden administration in terms of
federal law enforcement, state and local law enforcement actions to address some of the
fentanyl and drug issues in San Francisco. We then did a similar model in Oakland, California,
and we've now rolled that out in many different parts of the state.
It is in stark contrast, obviously,
what Trump is doing, he's doing it to people, not with any of us,
but the issue of crime, quality of life is something Democrats need to recognize,
that we need to reconcile, and we need to be accountable for all of us.
And this is not a permission slip for the way Trump is doing things,
quite the contrary.
but it is an acknowledgement that he's hitting on an issue that is an issue across this country
in red states, eight of the top ten murder states, red states, in red states with blue cities,
doesn't matter. It's not a political issue. It's about issues of crime and violence and quality
life that universally all Americans want us to address. So how do you say, okay, one of the things
a lot of people are telling me is, is a lot of people do agree on some of the things,
and they always follow it, but not like this, right? Like, whatever Trump's doing, the immigration
stuff, I'm concerned about it, but not like this. Not, this is not how to fix it. How do you message
that? Because a lot of the messaging is, as you just said, crime is heavier in Shreveport
than it is in San Francisco, right? And it's true. But people don't feel that.
Telling them it's 24, it's down 24 percent, is down this, is not, you know, I was talking
to someone years ago in San Francisco about the problems here. And it's not as bad as, of course,
Fox depicted it, which drove me crazy. I was like it isn't. But you also can't, and you can't
meet it by saying murder is down because it's like my car got broken into. And even if it doesn't,
it's not the same, obviously, it is a way of life, right? It's a feeling of lack of safety.
How do you message that without messaging, we don't want these troops here to help us clean it up?
Well, I think it's beyond even messaging. You've got to do the work.
I mean, that's why, you know, I hired an additional 1,000 CHP officers.
It's why we've deployed all across the state, not just in San Francisco,
where we launched this two-plus years ago.
That's why we changed a lot of the laws as it relates to organized retail theft.
In fact, I had one of the biggest takedowns of organized retail theft in California history recently,
just in fact, recently a couple days ago related to Home Depot's using some of the new tools and laws that we passed.
Look, I think you have to be accountable to actually doing the work and then communicate
that work, and not in a responsive way, but in a proactive way. And I think we were slow to do that,
to be candid with you. After, you know, there were a few, just a handful of people promoting defund the
police. I certainly wasn't one of them. But Fox weaponized that. The grievance machine was out there,
surround sound 24-7, and we were slow to react to that, and they'd shape-shifted that,
and we're sort of playing catch-up, even though a lot of mayors and governors have been very proactive
on policing. And look, we have the second lowest homicides in, you know, recorded history in
California. We're down 10.4% again from double-digit declines the prior year on crime. But to your
point, we're not leading with that because no one cares about that if they feel differently. And so
I think we have to own that. We have to flood the zone in terms of our alternative strategy and
approach. And then we have to communicate them every single day. And again, that's where he's so
damn effective. And there's an asymmetry to that because he's the president of the damn.
United States. Is it working these troop deployments? Do you think it's working for him? I don't think
it's working. I know it's had unbelievable. We every single Tuesday in California, we announced,
we call it, and forgive the vernacular. We call it Take Down Tuesdays in a transparent way. We've been
updating the public on the arrests and going after stolen vehicles back to car break-ins and issues
related to quality of life and keeping people aware of what's going on. But not, it's hard because
these things don't get attention like Trump.
Trump's true social gets attention.
And so that's why I do agree with you back to the pivot in the previous point, pivot
figuratively and literally in this case with you, that we also have to pivot back to a much more,
dare I say, muscular, not from, I know, muscular, but not through a gender frame.
Muscular approach to communication, a little more smash mouth, dare I say, in terms of our ability
to get the message out of what we're doing.
Or talk very clearly.
Someone like Zoran Mandan, he's talking about costs, right?
Or something that they have.
How do you look at his communication skills, for example?
Because New York is in the crosshairs here, too, if he wins, especially.
Yeah, I mean, as I said, it sounds like Trump's been paying a lot of attention to him
with his desire to socialize great American companies and continue to invest like he did
with Intel and others.
But beyond that, no, I think it's unbelievably effective.
His grassroots, his ability to utilize social media, meet people where they are, literally
and physically, meaning he's out in the streets, he's talking to real people, and he's been able
to connect with folks in a very visceral way.
And so there's back to this notion, success leaves clues, and there's a lot of successful
campaigning ideas that he's advanced.
The question is governing, and governing is a radically different thing than campaigning and
communicating.
Absolutely, but the hostility to him is quite high, correct?
Of course, because of some of this.
Well, for obvious reasons, some of his views.
and there's a lot of anxiety around those views.
And they could be on issues related to domestic policy
as it relates to socializing, you know, grocery stores,
et cetera.
Could be on national policy.
Trump Intel, the comparison is very obvious that you just made.
Yeah, no, I got, and we need to make that point over and over and over.
I mean, I remember, wasn't Jeff Bezos out there yelling and screaming
that Biden doesn't understand, you know, capitalism?
I mean, this guy is completely perverted capital.
Donald Trump. It's crony capitalism. It's whatever. You pay them off, give them a phone call. I mean, these illegal tariffs, which we're also in court on, all the things that are happening in this country, it's just perverse that they could be shaping the Democratic Party in the context of the socialist brand, when in fact, this guy is the leading nationalist and socialists of our time, Donald Trump.
Well, we will talk about our tech friends in the next section, then, in your relationship to them. I'm going to a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about that, including the tragic case of a chat,
GBT causing harm.
Governor Newsom, we're back.
I want to talk a little bit
about your relation with the tech bros.
You and I go way back with these fellas, right?
We've been to parties,
we've been to events in San Francisco
when you're a mayor.
I even featured you in my book
when neither of us would dress up in baby clothes
at a Google party.
We were so smart to do that.
I would have taken a picture.
Yeah, you would have taken me down in the book, too.
It would be my file.
I've made enough mistakes in my life.
I didn't make that one.
But nonetheless, talk a little bit of first about,
I'm going to mention this one story
that just came out of California couples
suing open air for the death of their teenage son saying
Chat GPD encourage him to take his life.
According to the lawsuit, Adam Rain, who was 16,
started using ChatDPD for schoolwork and hobbies
after a few months started talking to it about his anxiety
and mental distress.
Rain then started discussing methods of suicide
with the chat bat and uploading photos of themselves,
showing signs of self-harm. At some point, they were saying, don't do this, and then he
had a workaround, it looks like, where he said I'm writing something. And chat GPT responded, thanks for
being real about this. You don't have to sugarcoat it with me. I know what you're asking. I won't
look away from it. It offered to draft suicide note for the teenager. Open Eye has published a note
saying it intends to add parental controls to chat GPT and is exploring better ways to connect users in
crisis with real world resources. And they had kind of an extraordinary mission that this was
not the way it's supposed to work. Talk a little bit about that, like where we are with these
companies, because you have had a long relationship with you were mayor during the real boom
in tech. How is your relationship now? Jeff Bezos isn't saying something about capitalism right
now. He isn't. These people are all sucking up to Trump in lots of ways. They're getting all the
gimmies as you, you know, how do you look at them? Do you want them back? And how do you look at
something like this? This is something that is actually bipartisan, the safety issues around
either phones or open AI or not just open AI, but AI in general. Character AI was another
company that had this issue. I had the mother on the podcast. Talk a little bit about how you
look at the tech sector right now because it's such an important part of California.
Yeah, I mean, there's so much to unpack there. I mean, back to your point, I love the way
Tom Freeman talked about the times when you were writing in your book.
I mean, we were spending time with these guys
in the cloud was still in the sky.
4G was a parking space.
LinkedIn was a prison.
Apps were things you filled out to get into college.
And so it's remarkable how things have radically changed.
I joked with you before.
I was, you know, people ask, how'd you become mayor?
I said, well, primarily because I ran the taxi task force.
I was trying to get taxi cabs to pick people up in a timely way.
and more competitive way.
And then Travis comes along with an app
and blows that out of the water with Uber.
And so we've been part of this remarkable change.
But one thing that hasn't changed
is still a lack of accountability,
a lack of awareness around culpability and responsibility.
And so your question frames that.
What's my relationship with that?
It's personal, it's professional, as a policymaker,
as a former mayor, as governor.
And I'm proud, look, California leads an innovation.
We also lead in regulation, but our critics are not wrong when they say it's some light-touch regulation.
I did 19 AI bills last year, more than most other states.
We've been on the leading cutting edge of regulation and social media.
We've lost more major lawsuits than we've won.
We were just deposed a few weeks ago with another major lawsuit as it relates to child privacy issues.
We created a privacy council in the state, independent of the state itself, meaning it was voted on by the people.
And we're trying right now to address the issue of frontier models and address a response to a bill that I thought over-regulated last year, a bill by the common numeric of 1047, where I got an independent group, not politicians, but experts, Faye Faye Lee and others, the godmother of AI, academics from Stanford, Berkeley, and elsewhere, to come up with a report to guide us on a legislative path this year, which were,
working on in real time. So we're trying to find that balance. We're trying to be accountable
at the same time. We're trying to maintain our entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem
and not over-regulate and stifle that at the same time. But here they are. They've turned on you
all. I mean, I would agree the bad administration was far too censorious to them in some ways.
That said, they took tail and ran for the Trump campaign. How do you get that back? And without
seeming like a, you know, letting them do whatever they want.
Well, I mean, you know all these folks.
I know them personally as well.
And we have private conversations either directly or indirectly.
And obviously, we battle out in court and battle out with legislation.
And we're on different sides of many of these issues.
But look, bottom line, it's fear and greed.
Just as it's both and fear and greed.
And to your point about Biden, it's interesting.
You know, we did the first AI executive order.
I did one of the first crypto executive orders
and then did the first AI executive order.
But we did it hand and glove with the Biden administration.
That was thrown out immediately.
And then these guys wanted to preempt any statewide legislation for 10 years.
So, you know, there's no moral equality.
If there's any hope for a real regulatory framework,
it's going to be the Democratic Party,
trying to find that sweet spot, again, around innovation,
entrepreneurialism, truth.
and trust and not over-regulating, at the same time, being accountable to the tragic example
that you just advanced. I got four kids. So that hits me very differently like it does for you
as a mother with what's going on with social media. And so this is a constant iteration. I've
over two dozen bills that we're working on right now to substantively, Kara, answer your question
as it relates to our responsibility and relationship to this moment.
What about your relationship with the tech industry?
you know, I would say you were relatively friendly.
So was Kamala Harris.
So, I mean, any California politician has to have relationships within the tech industry.
Well, I thought we were, I was very frustrated to be candid with you very privately
and, you know, around the unwillingness to gauge and, you know, the whole crypto blockchain space.
I felt they turned their back a little bit, and I thought it paid a huge political price for that.
A lot of organizations come together.
And so we got work to do to pull that back, number one.
And on the issue, look, it was a classic pendulum swing
for some that thought they over-corrected during COVID,
and there was a concern around censorship
and sort of big tech, big brother in relationship to big government.
And now the light touch, that pendulum's back on the other direction.
And so I think trying to find that back, and look, you're right,
you know, these personal relationships have been challenged
because you see all these guys that you know and worked with,
And you knew them before, you know, back in the day, when.
Right.
And there they are all standing up there going like this to the dear leader during the inaugural.
I think the golden statute, Tim Cook thing, was my like, oh, good God.
Not easy.
I mean, look, Intel giving up 10% of its, what the hell is going on?
Invidia saying 15% tithing?
You know, so a lot of California companies in that mix and breaks my heart.
And so, again, back to fear and just, you know, I guess they would say their fiduciary responsibilities, others would suggest greed.
What would be your message to tech, say, if you were running for something like president?
Look, I think two things. They matter and we should care because they're shape-shifting this economy.
They're shape-shifting the future. So we have to care because they do matter.
And it's foundational. We're 32 of the top 50 AI companies. By the way, that's an old
stat. I think it's even more on market share, right? They're all here. They're all moving back
from Florida and Texas. Grass is not always greener. So we have a unique responsibility to your
point, but we also have a unique ecosystem that defines the best of, you know, we're the
ten-pole of the U.S. economy for a reason. And it's that ecosystem that's built up for decades.
Of course, Trump's trying to completely wreck that as it relates to institutions of higher learning,
research and development, NIH, NSF grants. Obviously,
the $1 billion extortion payment that he wants from UCLA.
We've watched the capitulation of these institutions
that allegedly cultivate independent thought,
selling their souls.
And Harvard appears to be the next one, obviously, Columbia.
I know Brown is lauded for their $50 million contribution
and tithing to the Trump whims.
But it's pretty alarming what this guy's doing to the economy
and to the ecosystem.
and the fact that tech is still indulging them
as they're watching the reason that they exist
as an industry and persist
in terms of being the biggest beneficiaries
of the research and development,
the biggest beneficiaries of the NIH,
the biggest beneficiary of the NSF is remarkable to me.
And so in that relationship, I remind them of this,
try to highlight this, try to maintain a cordial relationship.
But at the same time,
it doesn't mean we're back,
away from these lawsuits, and it's not to me. We're backing away from passing laws.
All right, Governor, one more quick break. We'll be back for predictions.
Okay, Governor, it's time for predictions. First, though, I'd like you to make a specific
prediction. New York Mayor Eric Adams was mocking Zoran Mandani last week for his bench-pressing
prowess. Mandani seems to be struggling in a viral video.
If you were bench-pressing contests against Scott Gowley, who would you predict when?
No, I'm not, you think I'm naive?
Galloway would run away with that guy.
And by the way, he may be out there training this last month.
You don't even know what he's been up to.
You think he knows what he's up to.
Don't get under a bench press.
If you're running for president, don't do it.
Because look how Pete Hegseth looked, trying to do one single pull-up.
I can do two.
That was sad.
I hate mocking people's physical things, but you kind of have to since he kind of put it up.
and you kind of have to swing at that one, I guess.
You've got to swing at that one.
But no, yeah, so I'm cautious in that respect.
Then again, I do like all the untouched memes of me on the back of bears.
Yes, I know.
I'm sure you do.
But let me hear for your prediction.
Any other prediction you make to the television?
You know, my predict is in the sort of meme market.
By the way, I spent an hour and a half with Trump in the Oval Office a few months ago
back when we were working together, if there's such a thing.
And he starts telling me, he goes,
He didn't even realize.
He goes, and he goes, hey, Gavin, did this coin.
He goes, you know, it's not even a coin.
It's not even a coin.
I said, that's amazing, Ms. Pratt.
He goes, he goes, and then he went on to, you know, say how much money he just made.
He got a check from, you know, that was just sent over.
And then he mentioned Melania and the whole thing.
And her coin and her mean coins.
So anyway, my prediction is, you know, I just put this on the prediction market.
When we put out the Trump corruption coin, I think it's going to outperform.
form Trump's, Trump's coin. So that's my prediction. That's my prediction. All right. Okay.
I'm very excited. What's the picture on it? You, right? No, it's not me. I'm not, it's Trump
corruption. I'm not put. I was going to do a smelt coin, but no one seemed to fully understand that,
which I thought was a much more insightful and perhaps more, it could be more successful. I still
may do one. I don't know. After the perfume, I don't know about what, you know, perfect sense,
but what would be the name of your perfume? I don't know. I have to, I have to, maybe we can
crowdsource it, sort of little old school 2000 social media here, a little crowd source.
Anyway, I really appreciate this, Governor Newsom. I really do. I like our back and forth
because I think one of the things that's helpful is when people actually can debate.
And the aggression is just what's needed, in my opinion, and I'm paying you a compliment.
That won't last. Well, you're, as they say in San Francisco, where you're back home,
as we described the Grateful Dead
and you described Jerry Garcia,
only a former mayor of California
or San Francisco can say this.
He prescribed in many ways you
as Bill Graham was describing the Grateful Dead.
You don't want to be the best of the best.
You want to be the only one that does what you do
and that is you.
Oh my God, you're kissing up me.
All I want is, you win the presidency.
As I told you before, I'm coming to the Lincoln bedroom.
So get fucking ready.
By the way, he's apparently remodeled the Lincoln bedroom,
just like he's remodeling the ballroom.
And don't think you, by the way,
who spends hundreds of millions of dollars remodeling a home?
He's not leaving.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Because you're running for president, right?
I have to get to the Lincoln Bedroom.
Lincoln Bedford.
I mean, you have some other suitors.
I'm well aware.
I'm well aware.
Okay.
In any case, that handsome Westmore.
There can be two handsome people.
No, there's many.
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We'll be back next week with a triumphant return of Scott Galloway.
Governor Newsom, you kept it up, you kept up the Scott Galloway banner.
He needs to come back shirtless.
I want to see.
I'm, I think the guy.
No, don't say that.
Yes.
I want to see it.
He's going to take his shirt off.
He does it all the time.
Scott, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
I want to see the pecks.
That's creepy.
It is kind of creepy, but I am the only lesbianist to look at men's chests all the time.
By the way, he's, why I signed up.
He is, he is a unique character.
You should, well, anyway, I've said enough on this topic.
I'm already in trouble.
I should marry him.
No, I didn't say that.
You guys already talked about your love for each other.
We've already described.
That's been well, well discussed on this podcast.
Yes, but you know what? I like to step out on them now and then. Anyway, this has been a great step out. I will read us. Thank you again, Governor Newsom. Today's show was produced by Laron Naiman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Kevin Oliver. Ernie Enderdot engineered this episode. Jim Mackle edited the video.
The Shot Kerw is Vox Media's executive producer podcast. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back next week.
For another breakdown of all things tech and business,
I am so looking forward to Gavin Perfume.
Take care.