Back in the immediate aftermath of the 2024, it looked as though California Governor Gavin Newsom was cognizant of appearing too left-wing for his future presidential aspirations. On a podcast with the late Charlie Kirk, he agreed with the latter’s stance against transgender athletes in female sports, provoking a backlash from his own side.
That was then, this is now. Since then, Newsom has been desperate to establish himself as President Trump’s foil ahead of a 2028 run. His latest target is the political compact the Trump administration has submitted to nine major universities nationwide, including USC.
According to Newsom, “If any California university signs this radical agreement, they’ll lose billions in state funding — including Cal Grants — instantly.” The governor’s comments continue a long Democratic tradition of describing normal conservative thought as “radical,” while far-left views are considered within the realm of respectable debate. The Trump administration’s political compact asks universities to accept and implement its views on gender identity, affirmative action, and standardized testing, in order to receive preferential access to federal money.
These views are shared by broad swaths of Americans, but for the last ten years, campus leftists have attempted to shut down opposing opinions, sometimes up to the point of violence, as we most recently saw with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. President Trump correctly understands that the corrective to the last decade of left-wing untruth is to provide incentives for universities to embrace reality. University administrators, much like corporate America, prostrated themselves before left-wing student demands since 2014, creating new DEI bureaucracies and showing their willingness to fold under pressure. A corrective has been long overdue.
Newsom, for his part, has done a good job of attempting to keep himself in the national spotlight, while not meaningfully addressing any issues facing the Golden State. Prior to this, he signed a law banning ICE from wearing masks, which has no effect because they are under federal jurisdiction. He also has been attempting to mock Trump’s tweeting style. If being a successful governor meant establishing yourself as the nation’s foremost limousine liberal, he has done an excellent job. Unfortunately for his lofty aspirations, the country may not see it that way.
