The Keith Edwards Show - This Is Going Mega Viral...

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

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In Gavin Newsom's podcast, he just interviewed and had a conversation with Ben Shapiro and Ben Shapiro. He got him to say some things that I think he's going to regret. Now, folks are kind of mad at Gavin Newsom, one of the few Democrats. He's also a content creator, which I think is actually kind of important. Now, people on the left are quite upset with Gavin Newsom because he dared to have Ben Shapiro on. As you can see here with the announcement, this is Gavin Newsom featuring Ben Shapiro and one influencer here saying, Gavin, generally, what are we doing? And someone else said, Gavin, no, this is the opposite of what we need. I actually totally disagree. I think this is very smart. Now, I don't think everyone should do this.

I don't think everyone has the capability to have conversations with people who disagree with them. But we are so siloed in this country that it is so important that we have these types of conversations. And I think what you're going to see in these clips is that Democrats benefit because we're were actually able to defend the things that we believe. And if you truly believe what you think is right, then you should be able to have conversations with people who you disagree with. And Gavin Newsom did a great job. I mean, talk about something kind of stale that I thought was pretty interesting. Ben Shapiro actually debated with Gavin Newsom the fact that they say that California is too unaffordable. And I actually thought I learned something from this. I thought I made some great points.

You're talking about literally a 50-year trend line as it relates to the issues of cost of housing and affordability. But I can talk in terms of the substantive actions we've taken, tripling their income tax credits for working families, creating a child tax credit, foster tax credit, doing more as it relates to predistribution opportunities. How about radically lowering the income tax rates in the state? California has tax. I mean, there's 16 states right now. Let's talk about those 16 states. Well, I'm going to. They tax their low-wage earners more than California.

California taxes, it's highway earners. Let's talk about lowering those tax rates in those 16 states. How about the middle class? 40% of the middle class in Texas pay higher taxes than they do in California. We have the highest tax rate for the 1%. But the overall tax burden and there's been independent analysis after independent analysis is marginally higher than the national average. Okay. Did you know that? I didn't know that. I just thought by and large that California is, is less affordable than most other states. That's what I thought. And what Gavin Newt, I just, again, this is why this is so important.

This is why this is so important. Because I did not know that. That actually, if you are a middle class American and you live in California, it's only marginally higher than other places. And I imagine in California versus in Florida, you get more for your money. Now, let's do it here. Ben Shapiro has to say. For the 1%, you're in that bubble.

But 99% empirically are not. person who grew up in California and spent my entire career in California. I paid every single tax rate in the state of California. I started off making when I first got out of school and I'd quit the law firm, I was making maybe 60 grand a year. So you started out paying less than you would in a dozen plus other states. And I didn't leave. It's a progressive tax state. I understand it's a progressive tax state. The problem is that when I left, I also took 80 employees. And there's somebody who's got to pay the bills for those employees. And that's typically not the state, the person who is paying the bills for the employees. And the person that's a guy is created. By the way,

you're talking to a guy who started right out of college pen to paper and started 23 small businesses. Literally, 23, created almost a thousand jobs. So you know, as a person who ran a small business, you wanted to pay salaries to your people. Honored. Right. I mean, it's not about the greed of the one. I'm the same person. I hated a lot of the regulations and I've been fighting against a lot of the same regulations.

And having to fire people because of that stuff is awful. I agree. And losing your profit margin, which allows you to hire more people is a bad thing. And when you're seeing, I mean, I've talked to major tech founders who say today, that they would not, if they had to do it over again, they would not found in California, specifically because of the regulatory and tax revenue. Well, let's talk about the largest startup in world history

could have chosen any place to open its headquarters just recently. Open AI and the folks there decided to open in San Francisco. I mean, it runs... That's where the talent is. I mean, there's no question. Therein lies the formula for success. California has more Fortune 500 companies

than it's ever had in 20-plus years. See, isn't it good to have someone fighting rather than just talking to ourselves? I think this is actually a very productive conversation. Now, he also got Ben Shapiro to admit this. Worst job market in 16 years. Manufacturing factory jobs down. Yeah, tariffs have not helped in manufacturing.

Average persons paying. What? What do you say? Tariffs have not helped in manufacturing. Average persons paying more for Halloween. We paid a little more during Christmas. Then they were last year on a margin, sort of on a low rate. I mean, I think that again, get rid of those tariffs.

significant policy. I've been a big advocate of getting rid of the tariff since literally day one. Good to know. I also got Benjibir admit that Republicans are going to get walloped in the midterms. Republicans have no chance in this midterm, right? I think that they are in for a world of hurt right now in the midterms. I mean, they're the, they're the incumbent party. They have a bare majority. Yeah. That alone would put them behind the eight ball. There are not a lot of swing districts that are kind of left because of all the redistricting. But the swing district, that our left seem to be trending more blue. President Trump isn't on the ballot, so he doesn't really have coattails among the low propensity electorate. So yeah, I think that Republicans are

going to have a rough ride. Sounds good to me. I could fall asleep to that. Ben Shapiro also went against Donald Trump's finance policies, or are they really policies, but finance, financial management ideas? The main critique I have for President Trump on the economic front is that investors, what they are really looking for is number one, less regulation, ease of investment, but number two, consistency. And the lack of consistency at the federal level is incredibly difficult for investors to navigate. And actually, I think that if the Supreme Court steps in and says no to the tariffs, you'll actually see a rather large economic boost because of it.

I don't know if the Supreme Court will do that, but I guess suppose we could dream. What do you make of Trump's interventionist attitudes, not just overseas? but as it relates to corporations and companies, so many disproportionately based out here, including MP materials, which is... I don't think the federal government should be taking stakes in private companies. I don't believe in what has been called

chronic capitalism or state capitalism. Really, it's just corporatism. I'm not a fan of the idea that the government ought to be involved in command and control economics with regard to private companies. So I've opposed that pretty much every step of the way. I think it's a mistake.

I think that the market has a magical ability to make things better and cheaper over time if left to its own devices. And that includes, by the way, not interfering in the independence of the Fed? Yes. So what you get with powers? I mean, listen, I'm an Austrian school of economics guy. I think that there's a good case to be made that the Fed really should not have control over inflation rates in the first place.

I think the target inflation rate should be zero, not too. And I think that we should allow interest rates generally to free float. Because I think that, you know, sometimes one of the great problems with the American economy is artificial bubbles that are created by loose monetary policy. That's pretty incredible that Ben Shapiro is creating that lane there where he's also saying that Donald Trump shouldn't touch Powell and that we shouldn't. I mean, it's insane that we have a stake in Intel now. That's literally communism. It's communism. And again, it's like interesting that that's something he says and something that I think a lot of Americans agree with.

And then they actually had a really interesting conversation about the fact that Donald Trump or Republicans could potentially do something to impact our elections. Do I think that we are at high risk in the United States of full-scale national elections with 150 million voters being stolen and that the elective leadership is then fundamentally illegitimate, which leaves you with no choice, presumably, but to go to the mattresses, which is what you don't want. That sort of language, I think, is really dangerous. But back to the point you were making earlier about the aggregate, we're talking about a few thousand

votes here and there that ultimately determine that election for the nation on the basis of the electoral map. So I think it's more prone to concern than you may suggest. But I think that's pointing out specific problems so that we can actually agree on the specific solutions. Oh, I'm with you. And that's why I'm calling it out now. And I've been, I try to provide evidence to back up my point as it relates to the Department of Justice and how it gets weaponized. And I've seen it from my party as well. Sure as hell seen it from Trump's perspective, what they try to do with the Bortak teams on the day of the election here under Prop 50. where they sent folks out and these guys all dressed up to try to chill free expression and free speech on election day,

where Trump tweets out that morning saying this is rigged election, the fact that he's out there suggesting that all the vote by mail is illegal and a bunch of immigrants, illegal immigrants are out there doing all of these things you start stacking them, including trying to rig midterm elections as it relates to changing the maps and what he tried to do on January 6th. Yeah, I start getting a little bit concerned about all those things in together because I don't think they're all the same. They're not all the same, but they stacked together from my perspective. Not one action. It's a sum total of all of those things.

I actually think Gavin Newsom's one of the few elected officials who's taking the threat of Donald Trump and his fascism seriously. And I don't know, pretend to know what Ben Shapiro thinks. But I'm glad that this conversation happened. Because first off, I think Ben Shapiro's supporters will see this more likely than they would something else that Gavin Newsom does. And it's important for them to kind of get a left perspective on this stuff. Because this isn't America what's happening in this country, though it is happening in America.

This is not who we were raised to think we are as a country. And it's really, really, really, really, really important that we start to not only defend what we believe, but talk to people who disagree with us. Because it's in those conversations that maybe we can come to an understanding that in many ways, we are more like than we are different. I know that might be hard to hear, but there's no way for us to get through this moment without each other. Now, I'm not saying I want Ben Shapiro and me to be the same team, but I think the way that Donald Trump has won in many respects is because he's kept us so divided. And what Gavin Newsom's doing here is quite remarkable. He's talking about

tax rates. He's talking about the importance of our elections. He's talking about tariffs. You know, these are things that we can have disagreements about. And I hope that in discussing those disagreements, the country eventually can come to a place where we see that on a lot of things, we do agree. I do think, and this might be the most radical thing I say, but when it comes to most things, most Americans want the same thing. We want a good education for our children. We want safe communities. We want to be able to make enough money for us to not only live, but to thrive. And we want justice in our own lives and justice when people commit crimes against us or against the country. So how we get there, that's the doing of the disagreement.

But I think what Donald Trump has been so successful at is he has made us believe that we have nothing in common. I refuse to believe that's true. I refuse to believe that's true. And I do think eventually we're going to happen to have a reckoning that we can and must live together and what's happening right now, I think many Americans can agree isn't who we are, not who we want to be. So I'm glad these conversations happen. Gavin Newsom, check it on his podcast here. It's called This is Gavin Newsom. It's on YouTube. And I'll see you soon.