“For years and years, he’s been attacking me, and it‘s one way, and he won‘t have me on, and he‘s consistently not having me on. By the way, I‘m moving on. I have no interest. Joe Rogan‘s the Facebook of podcasting. He was sitting across one of the brightest minds in podcasting right now. The guy was in the mic, and there are a lot of people at the mic doing extraordinary things in podcasting,” Newsom said in the premiere of CNN’s The Story Is with Elex Michaelson. 

“But with all due respect, if he has a big audience but he doesn‘t have big enough confidence, I didn‘t go there, to have me on,” Newsom said.

Newsom also asked why Rogan doesn’t have “the decency” to invite him on his show and have a “civil dialogue,” noting that podcast host Shawn Ryan conducted a four-hour interview with the governor. He added that Fox News’s Sean Hannity interviewed him and asked Rogan, “What are you worried about?”

Rogan spoke with comedian Andrew Schulz about Newsom egging the podcast host to invite him on his show, saying the press office’s strategy is “so stupid” and “such a bad look.” Rogan added he “probably” would invite Newsom on his show, but is now turned off from giving this offer.

Schulz said it would be “fun” for Rogan to invite the governor to the show and “you cook him” in the interview, to which Rogan responded, “he would cook himself.”

MIKE JOHNSON SAYS HE ‘DOESN’T SEE A PATH’ FOR THIRD TRUMP TERM

Newsom also spoke about the late Charlie Kirk on CNN, saying it was “so interesting” how his son and so many people knew of Kirk. Newsom said his son felt as if Kirk was “talking to him” and other young men, and said the Democratic Party has “abandoned” young men.

The governor is widely speculated to seek a presidential run in the 2028 election cycle. He confirmed he will give this “serious thought” after the 2026 midterm elections, and called President Donald Trump a “wrecking ball.”