The MeidasTouch Podcast - Governor Newsom Goes on Offense against Fox and Trump

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas has an exclusive interview with Governor Gavin Newsom about the lawsuit he just filed against Fox News and how he is going on the offense against disinformation and lies. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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That MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. A $787 million lawsuit has been filed against Fox by California Governor Gavin Newsom for defamation, misrepresenting the communications which took place between California governor Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump. Governor Newsom was very clear about when a phone call took place when Donald Trump. Trump several days later lied and said, oh, there was a phone call that took place the day before when it didn't take place the day before. Let's bring in California governor Gavin Newsom to talk

about what happened and how Fox really being this propaganda arm for Donald Trump, editing and manipulating the videos and the content to give their viewers false information. This is one of the basis of your lawsuit. Talk about your lawsuit, governor. No, I appreciate it. I mean, I think you summed it up beautifully. I mean, they knowingly misrepresented the facts. They altered and edited statements of the President of the United States' videos.

And they knowingly stated that I lied about a phone call with Donald Trump. Donald Trump, as we know, lied about a phone call he had with me the day before. That call, in fact, was almost four days prior. Trump himself went to John Roberts of Fox to show a screenshot of the call. That call was never in question. They went on then to alter the fact that the president said it was a call the day

before, and then it was weaponized further on the Jesse Water Show, who had a chyron saying Gavin lied about President Trump. And so look, I can take it these guys go after me 24-7. I'm a piñata and have been for years and years at Fox. Never once did I think I had to file a defamation lawsuit. But this crossed the line, the journalistic and ethical lines, the boundaries of defamation, malice, and they need to be held to account because it's one thing to cover up for lies that of a president, but the impact of covering up for these lies is impacting our democracy,

truth and trust. Governor, look, when it comes to, you know, when I speak to my wife, sometimes I'll say five minutes, 10 minutes, and it'll be 20 minutes. It won't be five minutes. That's relatively inconsequential, although she'll may view it differently. When we're talking about issues of war, when we're talking about issues of sending troops into a state in an unprecedented fashion, clarity and honesty, I think, matters the absolute most. So when a conversation took place, how long it took place, this is important because people can die. So you as the governor of California were very clear.

You said it to us when you were talking about it. There was a phone call that took place. Here's how long it is. Trump then makes up a fake conversation. Fox tries to cover for him. And it's not funny. You know, it could result in people dying, not getting accurate information.

And that to me is what's so insidious about this. No, I mean, well said. Look, it's what Trump just had a press conference a moment ago lying about California and lying about water and lying about the fact that this big, beautiful bill is not going to hurt anybody. I mean, this is what this guy does. And in some ways, that's become so socialized.

We kind of roll our eyes, and we roll with it sometimes. But you don't cover that up. You don't double down on that lie. You don't knowingly cover up and defame the character of someone else, particularly as you suggest at this critical moment. This was a, you know, this was back and forth. We've got, I just want to remind people, let's just contextualize this exact moment. There are close to 5,000 troops, federalized troops, on the streets of Los Angeles right now for no apparent purpose or reason. Thousands and thousands of them just sitting around

for pure theater over the objections of the governor. They've been taken off the beat as local law enforcement. They've been pulled off the border where I had directed them to address the issue of counter-narcotics and fentanyl interdiction. They've been pulled out of the wildland urban interface, meaning the work that they were doing, hundreds of these National Guardsmen were protecting us from this year's fire season. They've been pulled off for Trump's folly. In the middle of all this back and forth,

it's right to have the conversation, the question, when did you talk to the governor? What did you talk to him about? It was the basis of litigation between the state of California and the Trump administration and federal court at the time. Fox could have easily just dismissed yet another lie from the Trump administration. Rather, they decided to knowingly cover it up and lie about this conversation. And they did it in a way that not only directly impacts the notion of truth and trust,

but I was starting to get calls from folks, supporters of mine, friends of mine saying, why are you Gavin, lying about the call with Trump? They apparently have the receipts. There was no receipts. It was edited, redacted, they knowingly and maliciously defamed, and they should be held to a higher level of ethical and journalistic standards.

Talk to us, Governor, about the damages request here. I know there's some aspect of it that represents what Fox had settled for in a prior case. I had read that in the event of a recovery, where where it would go. Can you talk to that? Yeah. Yeah, not going to me. Look, you have to do defamation is a high bar. And I look, as I said, anyone who's ever watched Fox News knows I'm one of their their main targets. Never in the past years and years and years of being on the receiving end of Fox and their

propaganda. Never have I been in this position. We're so just so years and years and years of being on the receiving end of Fox and their propaganda, never have I been in this position. So the red line was crossed. And so the defamation construct has to happen on an individual basis, and it's a very high bar. And so in this case, I've asked simply this, apologize. Give as much air time to the multiple segments you did lying about this call and suggesting that I lied about this entire issue. Give as much air time as you did when you misrepresented those facts knowingly. If you don't, then you should be held to account, just as was the case with the defamation in the past. They've been subject to the Dominion case.

We all recall the $787 million you thought that would stop them from continuing these lies. They obviously haven't learned their lesson. And so in that case, those damages would go into a fund, not for me, but to advance truth and trust and ethics and to support causes that I think are universal in this country and protecting our democracy. So that's the idea.

Simple apology, do the right thing. And by the way, of course, what do we get today? We got almost a verbatim, plus or minus an adjective, an adverb here and there, the same statement they said when Dominion filed their lawsuit. They've learned absolutely nothing. Well, when Dominion filed the lawsuit, that was a big lie that Trump and his followers were talking about January 6th. And now, every day, there are big lies and bigger lies that the Trump regime continues to push. And one of the things that you said is when you had that call with Donald Trump, and you've seen him, and I know you have a great deal of respect for the office

of the presidency. So you've been hesitant to, I think, let the public know how alarming his cognitive state is on these discussions. And so I know it's difficult for you to lean into that because of what your view of the presidency, but you said that if people knew what Trump said and how he behaved on these calls, it would send shivers up your spine. Is there any additional information

you can provide about that? Because when we see him every day, it sends shivers up my spine when he makes up fake conversations with world leaders that aren't happening. And we're talking about life and death and matters of war and peace. Life and death, matters of war and peace,

and just the foundational tenets of what holds democracies like ours together, again, truth and trust. I continue to go back to those two foundational words. Look, what was so alarming is not only his total stone cold misrepresentation, this in the case, Trump's stone cold misrepresentation, this in case Trump's stone cold misrepresentation of what he discussed and the facts that he didn't discuss what he said he discussed,

it's what he wanted to discuss that is so alarming. At a time, at such a moral moment, when he's federalizing or about to federalize in this case, that phone call happened a number of hours before he federalized the National Guard. Over the objections of the governor, he didn't wanna talk about that. He didn't even wanna engage in the conversation around LA.

And what was so chilling is over a 16 minute period, what he did wanna discuss, the president of the United States, what he actually wanted to discuss. And in that context, it may become public. And let me tell you why, because the House Oversight Committee is now requested unsurprisingly,

all of our information, all of our correspondence. That's fair game. The correspondence directly with the Chief of Staff, fair game. And I made it clear to the Chief of Staff, I made it clear to the White House that we will cooperate with federal oversight. And that will include my contemporaneous notes

that I took, unsurprisingly, with the President of the United States that night. And to the extent appropriate, that information will be shared in that form. Before we go, what do you want the American people to know right now? I think they were very comforted by your address to the state and address to the nation. I think they like to see finally we have Democrats going on the offense and pushing back. There's this disastrous budget bill working its way through Congress that I don't want

people to forget about it because people aren't forgetting about it. People are scared right now and they're looking for fighters. So what do you want to say to the American people right now? By the way, I'm about to have a press conference. Three and a half million people are going to lose their health care in California. Three and a half million in the state of California. The President of the United States has had a press conference in the Oval Office

or at least in the White House briefing room where he said no one is going to be directly impacted and hurt by those cuts. What nonsense. And so we're gonna lay that out in detail. So I appreciate you highlighting one of the most extraordinary and most impactful and devastating bills of our lifetime lifetime the most significant

Rollback of health care in American history that's about to occur as early as this weekend and the United States Senate But what I want people to know is You know gloves are off. Let's go enough We're gonna stand up truth we're to stand up truth. We're going to stand up for American people. We're going to stand up for people that are being bullied. We're going to have the backs of people that are scared. We're going to use our formal authority. I'm proud to be governor of the largest state in America.

Again, I've said this before to you, 21 state populations combined. But we're also going to use our moral authority. And the extent we need to, we're also going to call out the bullshit and the propaganda and the weaponization of lies and mis and disinformation on networks like Fox. And we'll do it in every capacity. On behalf of the people I represent in the state, in an individual capacity, enough.

It's time to assert ourselves much more forcefully with character and conviction and have the backs of people that don't have the voice that some of us have and the ability to do what some of us can do. And that's what this whole case is about and we'll continue to stand tall and we'll continue to power through this remarkable moment in history. California Governor Gavin Newsom, thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's hit six million subscribers. The truth is more important than ever. Check out our new Truth Over Lies collection at store.mitustouch.com. All 100% USA Union made.