{"id":2572830,"date":"2026-02-24T06:33:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/potential-28-presidential-candidate-gavin-newsom-continues-to-backtrack-on-trans-sports-debate\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T06:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:37:01","slug":"potential-28-presidential-candidate-gavin-newsom-continues-to-backtrack-on-trans-sports-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/potential-28-presidential-candidate-gavin-newsom-continues-to-backtrack-on-trans-sports-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential &#8217;28 Presidential Candidate Gavin Newsom Continues to Backtrack on Trans Sports Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpotential-28-presidential-candidate-gavin-newsom-continues-to-backtrack-on-trans-sports-debate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2572830&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece uses California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s public appearances to illustrate how Democrats may frame thier strategy heading into the 2028 election, offering a glimpse of a potential party playbook. It notes Newsom has been on a media tour to promote his forthcoming memoirs, arguing that Democrats should be more \u201cculturally normal\u201d and focus on customary policy issues like energy costs, childcare, healthcare, and housing rather than identity-focused debates. The CNN interview with Dana Bash drew attention to this stance, including his remark that the party should avoid overemphasizing pronouns and identity.The article discusses Newsom\u2019s view of transgender athletes in sports as an \u201cissue of fairness\u201d and warns that without a nuanced approach,<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >democrats risk alienating voters<\/a> and losing room for broader discussion. It places these remarks in the context of past controversies, such as his veto of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-lawmakers-vote-to-remove-kids-from-any-parents-who-dont-support-severing-their-genitals\/\" title=\"California lawmakers vote to remove children from parents who oppose genital mutilation.\">bill requiring parents<\/a> to affirm a child\u2019s gender identity, and references his 2025 podcast appearance with Charlie Kirk. the piece frames Newsom as signaling a recalibrated Democratic stance on cultural topics to broaden appeal, while noting mixed reactions within the party.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The 2028 general election is still more than two years away, but on-the-fence voters may have gotten a glimpse into the Democratic playbook for that election cycle courtesy of California&rsquo;s governor.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom &mdash; a staunch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/newsom-gives-90-million-emergency-funds-planned-parenthood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">progressive<\/a> by virtually any meaningful metric &mdash; has been on something of a media tour lately, promoting his upcoming memoirs.<\/p>\n<p>Much in the same way that parts of the media blitz has had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/california-gov-gavin-newsom-accused-racism-making-sat-score-comment-black-mayor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mixed reviews<\/a>, Newsom&rsquo;s sit-down interview with CNN&rsquo;s Dana Bash has also raised some eyebrows.<\/p>\n<p>And the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/02\/23\/politics\/video\/inside-politics-gavin-newsom-two\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">snippet of that interview<\/a> garnering attention had to do with Newsom&rsquo;s suggestion that Democrats need to be more &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gavin-newsom-says-democrats-should-be-more-culturally-normal\/\" title=\"Gavin ... says ... should be more &#039;culturally normal&#039;\">culturally normal&#038;rdquo<\/a>; when it comes to certain transgender issues, including sports.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;From a tactical perspective, from the prism of purely politics, there&rsquo;s no doubt that the Democratic Party needs to be, dare I say, more culturally normal,&rdquo; Newsome told Bash, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/newsom-pushes-democratic-party-more-culturally-normal-want-win\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>He added, &ldquo;I believe that &mdash; less prone to spending a disproportionate amount of time on pronouns, identity, politics, more focused on tabletop issues, things that really matter, the stacking of stress in terms of electricity bills and childcare costs and healthcare and obviously housing costs and how easily we get trapped in that, how I&rsquo;ve fallen prey to that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Newsom appeared to have specific concerns about not getting &ldquo;invited to a larger conversation&rdquo; if the left continues to insist that men can play in women&rsquo;s sports.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But I think if you can&rsquo;t hold the line on competitive sports &mdash; again, sports, there&rsquo;s some nuance in this larger conversation,&rdquo; Newsom said. &ldquo;But competitive medal sports, if we can&rsquo;t find that nuance, I think we&rsquo;re going to lose a lot of people that aren&rsquo;t &mdash; we&rsquo;re not going to get invited to a larger conversation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So I do think we have to be more sensitive in that respect.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This &ldquo;culturally normal&rdquo; line of thinking would make sense for a Democratic Party that was caught wholly unprepared for President Donald Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;Trump is for you, Kamala is for they\/them&rdquo; attacks in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.<\/p>\n<p>And this isn&rsquo;t the first time Newsom has hinted at this seemingly new Democratic strategy.<\/p>\n<p>When late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk appeared on Newsom&rsquo;s podcast in March 2025, the two covered a wide range of topics.<\/p>\n<p>One of those topics? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/cultural-tipping-point-top-dem-now-admits-unfair-trans-athletes-compete-women\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Transgender athletes in sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, like, you right now should come out and be like, &lsquo;You know what? The young man who&rsquo;s about to win the state championship in the long jump &mdash; in female sports &mdash; that shouldn&rsquo;t happen&hellip; Would you say no men in female sports?&rdquo; Kirk asked Newsom.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, I think it&rsquo;s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. So that&rsquo;s easy to call out &mdash; the unfairness of that,&rdquo; Newsom answered.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Gov. Newsom says allowing trans athletes in women&rsquo;s sports is &lsquo;an issue of fairness&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5GwGBG7xT3\">https:\/\/t.co\/5GwGBG7xT3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/w7w8kNoIwt\">pic.twitter.com\/w7w8kNoIwt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nypost\/status\/1897750542341771571?\">March 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Newsom similarly caused waves among the left when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/newsom-running-rumors-swirl-stunning-veto-bill-forcing-parents-affirm-trans-childs-gender\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he vetoed<\/a> a bill that would have forced parents to affirm their child&rsquo;s &ldquo;gender identity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although the 2028 election is more than two years away, some voters may have caught a glimpse of the Democratic playbook through California Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s recent media push promoting his memoirs. Newsom, a prominent progressive, has been on a media tour, including a CNN interview with Dana Bash that drew attention to his suggestion that Democrats should be more \u201cculturally normal\u201d on transgender issues, including sports. He argued that, politically, the party needs to avoid an overly fringe stance and align more with mainstream concerns, while still addressing identity issues in a nuanced way. He warned that if the left insists men can compete in women\u2019s sports without nuance, Democrats risk alienating voters and being shut out of a larger national conversation. This line of thinking is presented as potentially sensible for a party that was caught off guard by Trump\u2019s attacks over pronouns and identity politics in 2024, and Newsom has floated it before, including a March 2025 podcast with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk where they discussed transgender athletes in sports, with Newsom calling fairness a central issue. The piece also notes Newsom\u2019s veto of a bill that would have required parents to affirm their child\u2019s gender identity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[74428,20322,72630,5894,74429],"class_list":["post-2572830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-2028-presidential-candidate","tag-backtracking","tag-gavin-newsom-2","tag-politics","tag-trans-sports-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572830"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2572833,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572830\/revisions\/2572833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}