← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump apparently numb to federal waste as staff burns through taxpayer money
00:41:42
California Governor Gavin Newsom talks with Jen Psaki in an extended interview about the damage Donald Trump has done to democracy in the United States, the threat of his potential successors like JD Vance and Marco Rubio, fighting with the right-wing media machine and what American voters are looking for in a president.
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- [00:00]
Gavin Newsom
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What do I do?
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Gavin Newsom
My refund though.
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John Lovett
I'm freaking out.
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Gavin Newsom
Don't worry, I can fix this.
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Interviewer
No problem.
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Gavin Newsom
I'll be with you every step of the way.
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- [01:00]
Interviewer
we get to my interview with Governor Gavin Newsom and I'm going to share a lot of that with you this evening, I have a question because last night Donald Trump broke the record for the longest State of the Union address ever with his hour and 45 minute long speech. He spoke longer than any other president ever, including himself, and he has given some long speeches. But my question to you is, do you remember any of it? And I don't just mean do you remember that Trump ranted and raved and attacked Democrats? I mean, do you remember anything substantive, any policy proposals or any specifics at all whatsoever? I mean, the State of the Union is likely the biggest audience a president gets any given year, all year. It is a huge opportunity to reach huge swaths of the American public that are not at all tuned into politics typically. But even though Trump spoke the longest of any president ever, he also may have actually said the least. I mean, take a look at the front page of the New York Times this morning. Can you see if you look closely at your screen there are write up of Trump's speech. No, let me help you. Let me pull it up for you. It's all the way down here in the lower left hand corner and doesn't actually say anything about the substance of Trump's speech. It just directs you to the New York Times website. If you want to know more, that is how unimportant the substance of Trump's speech last night actually was. The President addressed the country for an hour and 45 minutes. And it didn't even really make the front page of the nation's paper of record. And that coverage wasn't the only thing missing from this year's speech. Hardly. I mean, the absence of former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was also quite notable, given that in previous years, she was kind of hard to miss. You may remember how hard she tried to shout down President Biden, interrupting his speeches multiple times during his presidency. And last year, she wore a bright red MAGA cap that read, Trump was right about everything. My, how things can change in a year. Well, those antics were conspicuously absent this year after Greene broke up with Trump and abruptly quit Congress over the Epstein files. And that was a big topic that kind of overshadowed Trump's speech last night, not just because there were a number of Epstein survivors in the audience who Trump did not acknowledge, but also because Trump's speech came just hours after we learned that the DOJ's release of the Epstein files is missing some very important and potentially explosive materials. As Emma Snow reports, quote, the Justice Department has withheld notes and memos reflecting FBI interviews from its release of the Epstein files, including interviews with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually abusing her while when she was a minor. The thing is, Ms. Now has found that the FBI conducted at least four interviews with that woman, but only one record from just the first of those four interviews was actually released to the public. By piecing together publicly available documents and getting confirmation from a source who has access to the unredacted files, MSN was able to report that in one or more of those subsequent interviews, which were later recounted by the FBI, the victim alleged that Trump forced her to perform oral sex on him 35 years ago when she was 13 or 14 years old, and also hit her. Of course, the White House has claimed that President Trump has been totally exonerated on anything related to Epstein as they do. So why didn't the Justice Department release those interviews? It's a question the DOJ doesn't seem to want to answer. All they've said is that all responsive documents have been produced except for anything that's a duplicate or privileged or part of an ongoing federal investigation. Now, that last bit, the exception that lets the Justice Department withhold documents that are part of an ongoing federal investigation. That might be why the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, is now demanding to know whether Donald Trump himself is now under investigation for allegations of sexual assault. Msnow reported those files as missing yesterday. NPR reported those files missing yesterday. And Today, the New York Times also confirmed that reporting it's now one of the biggest stories in the country. It will continue to unfold. Trump's address last night also marked one month since Trump's federal immigration agent shot and killed 37 year old nurse Alex Preddy in Minneapolis. And yet the only time Trump mentioned Minnesota at all last night was to xenophobically refer to all of Minnesota's Somali population as pirates. Also missing from the State of the Union last night were more than 80 Democratic lawmakers who decided to boycott the event, many of them choosing to attend the Alternative People's State of the Union on the Washington Mall instead of. And as for people sitting at home, a whopping 4 million fewer people tuned in for Trump's speech this time around compared to his joint address just last year. So Republicans inside the House chamber may have done their best to try to make Trump seem popular and make him make sense. Poll after poll has shown that his approval rating is at an all time low. Trump is not putting forward much in terms of a vision of what he could do for Americans. And the American people are clearly hungry for an alternative. A lot of different Democrats are trying to fill that void, trying to give the public their pitch on what Democrats could do for them and on how they can counter all of the deeply unpopular things Trump is doing now. One of the most prominent Democrats giving the public their pitch right now is California Governor Newsom, who I just sat down with for a wide ranging interview. We spoke about everything from the Epstein files to Trump's plans to rig the next election, to how Democrats should be fighting back. You shifted how you were approaching Trump at some point during the first year of his second term. Around last summer, I would say it was, or that's my recollection when during that period of time, of course, the National Guard, he was threatening to send the National Guard in ice, was terrorizing communities. But what was the shift about? What prompted your shift?
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Gavin Newsom
He called me up and late at night, like 1, 2 in the morning, his time. And this was the night before he federalized the National Guard and wanted to talk about his nickname for me, New Scum. You know, how proud he was. This is so original, isn't it? It's literally how the conversation began. I'm like, Mr. President, it's not original. In fact, you know, and I write about it in the book. There was like an 8th grade bully on Baltimore that used to call me News Gump. And then he immediately shifts to maga's. Pretty impressive, isn't it? I'm like, how are we having this conversation? And it went on like that. Twelve hours later, I pick, pick up, you know, you know, a text from the staff. They said, did you read the true social? And it's Trump laying me out, sending, read me the riot act, complete bs and now just announced he was federalized in the National Guard. 4,000 National Guard were federalized. 700 active duty Marines were not sent overseas. Were sent to the second largest city in the United States of America militarizing the streets. We said at the time this was a preview of things to come. California has been the front. We've been enlightened. You know, we've been tested first in so many respects. But I was tested in a way where, where I said, I can't go back to my original form. I've got to shift. And we radically shifted gears and we started to put up a mirror to Trump and Trumpism. A guy who's cosplaying, dressed up as a pope dressed up as Superman, is putting his face up there on Mount Rushmore. Someone in all cap demeaning and attacking people. Meanwhile, he's got all these people complicit on these propaganda networks like Fox, the primetime line up there, not saying a damn word about it. And then offended they were. When I started putting that mirror up. How dare the governor react like this? It's un gubernatorial to put out tweets like this. And so I'm trying to expose that, use a little humor. But it is about narrative and it's about being present consistently over and over and over and over again in an environment where it's shock and awe on the other side.
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Interviewer
It seems like part of the strategy was shining a light on capitulation by, by companies, by the media, at times by universities, by law firms. Yeah, you've even sold knee pads.
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Gavin Newsom
Well, they sold out.
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Interviewer
There you go.
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Gavin Newsom
On my Patriot site, which is a real thing. They sold out. Like as you suggest, our universities, like our law firms, like a lot of our corporate media has been selling out. A lot of corporate leaders have been selling out corporations, quite literally selling out golden shares, 10% tithings. Free enterprise has shifted now into crony capitalism and state capitalism. And it's happened on our watch. It's a disgrace. I mean, no character. We can lose this republic. We can lose our country. And they're complicit. All of them are complicit. And the ones that are silent, with all due respect, are as well. We have to meet this moment. And we, we're up against something that is so insidious, so extraordinary, so deviant from any norms and traditions. He is an invasive species in so many ways, shape or form. And the story of Donald Trump is not a complicated one. It's a corruption story. It's one of the great grifts of all times, and it's happening, and he's getting away with it, and I can't take it anymore.
- [10:00]
Interviewer
Do you think the capitulation has gotten any better?
- [10:03]
Gavin Newsom
I think people, you know, the people of lead, the real leaders are those with moral authority, not formal authority. The people of Minneapolis, you know, people that have stood up, the no Kings rallies, people that are just not, you know, they didn't get the memo that they're, you know, that it's, you know, they should capitulate. Yeah. That it's just, you know, we should be cynical, we should be fearful, we should be anxious. They become the antidote to that, and that's extraordinary. And as a consequence, we're developing stronger backbones and are showing up. I was all over the south and people are showing up. I'm in the smallest rural communities in the country, towns of 2, 3000 people, and I felt like half the town was showing up because they haven't given in yet. And that bucks me up. And I think it's making us all stronger and all better. So, yes, I do think Trump's in retreat. Not just in Greenland, he's in retreat in Minnesota. His economic policies in retreat. He got clobbered on the IEEPA and the Supreme Court on the tariffs. His economic policies of mass deportation and tariffs are debacle. He promised to make us healthier and wealthier. We're rich, we're poorer now and sicker. Everything that he's going to spew tonight will be contradicted by feelings and live reality.
- [11:18]
Interviewer
We've talked in the past about the fact that you are a consumer of Fox News and a consumer at times of the manosphere. You've talked to some members of the manosphere. I'm shorthanding them. There has been a lot of outrage, it feels like, in the last several months, I mean, failure to release the Epstein files, Trump doubling down on tariffs, some things that have made his base mad angry.
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John Lovett
Yeah.
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Interviewer
Do you think that, though there's also, at the same time, wishful thinking sometime among some Democrats that he's losing his base, is falling out? What do you. Do you think this moment is different? Has anything shifted or what's. What's your reality?
- [11:53]
Gavin Newsom
Well, even if they fell out, he's the president United States for the next three years. Good news. He's temporary. That's just three years. And the presidency as we know it will de facto end this November when we get the gavel back and Speaker Jeffries becomes the next speaker. As long as we remain vigilant as he's trying to nationalize federal election. But look he, you know he's, he's a reality and we, we can't turn our back to that reality. And when I say this is a corruption story I think it's directly connected to the Epstein files and what was just out there today in NPR and about magical number 50, you know, 50 pages that have once again disappeared. I mean there's a reason, I mean just forget all the who's up down on the Epstein file. What the latest injury. There's a reason. He's single handedly worked so hard to make sure they were never released. There is a reason period. Full stop. It's not so reason to be determined. And every day there's another clue. That NPR story is a pretty damn alarming and here's what's more alarming and this is my biggest concern is that there's a chance we may not know for one reason. I could see on his way out pardoning half the damn administration on his way out. I could see things disappearing on the way out. We need to be mindful of that. We need to be vigilant of that. This is the rule of dawn. It's the rule of the jungle. There's no rule of law. The courts are speed bumps. They're not stop signs. Tries to work around them instant. He doesn't believe in co equal branches of government. He was shocked to learn that the Supreme Court may have actually once and let none of us fall prey to this being the new Supreme Court. Spare me on that. But on this one he seemed shocked that there actually appears to be a co equal branch of government. The courts that are kind of holding on. He was also shocked because he can't use this for the shock and offer his personal portfolio. The tariffs. I mean just as he did in Vietnam. He got a billion and a half and got that fast track golf course just as he's doing with the UAE. $2 billion with the Wyckoff family, the Trump family getting rich and then sending high value computer chips national security to the uae. He's doing it everywhere. He uses trade. He uses tariffs. Who are the first people to show up in every foreign trip? His emissaries are business emissaries, members of the family Billions and billions of dollars of grift in just one year. A corruption story the likes of which we've never seen in American history happening in real time. And Epstein fil reflective of that as well.
- [14:26]
Interviewer
And his family's making a boatload of money.
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Gavin Newsom
It's sick.
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Interviewer
At the same time, yes.
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Gavin Newsom
At your expense, at our expense. National security expense relationships, trade alliances, all of them being destroyed. Calling up the Qataris $400 million plane, telling the folks at the IRS $10 billion I'll negotiate with myself $230 million at the DOJ. It's happening, all of it, in real time and on our watch.
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Interviewer
He does not want to be held accountable. He doesn't want to lose power. That's very, very clear. And it becomes clear to him that he could lose power the more desperate he becomes. You were just in Georgia. You met with some of the Fulton county election officials. It was only last month when the ballots were taken from Fulton county in an effort to not just prove that Trump won the 2020 election, which he did not, but to serve as a precursor for messing with this election. What did you tell those election workers when you did?
- [15:22]
Gavin Newsom
Well, that we have their back and we'll keep coming back. And I also thank them for their vigil, for them calling this out. But it's a pretty alarming thing. I don't want to get into the specifics of our conversations, but he's trying to take it over. He's trying to control the outcome of that election. And this is a preview of things to come all across the United States. He's going to assert some authority that doesn't exist. And the courts take forever to catch up. You know, I talk about these mass men. I saw that the Bortech teams were sent out, these border patrol folks, the folks with the Apache helicopters, on election Day in November at Dodger Stadium to chill free expression, free speech, as he sends out a true social saying the election was rigged and put out DOJ monitors that day. And it went to the Supreme Court. That election, our Prop 50 election, thank God we won. He is not screwing around because exactly to your point, he knows he is going to be held to a different level of scrutiny and accountability. And the big grift may be slowed down. At least we'll put sand in the gears. That's how consequential and precious every moment is between now and November.
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Interviewer
Okay, do not go anywhere, because you're about to hear Governor Newsom talk about his very real concern that Donald Trump will somehow try to illegally stay in power in 2028. I know a lot of you were thinking about that concern too. You're also going to hear him explain why JD Vance might scare him even more than Trump does. Much more of my interview with Governor Newsom is coming up next. With VRBoCare. Help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with with peace of mind.
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Interviewer
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- [18:27]
Interviewer
Donald Trump has mused and joked about third drums more than any president in history, and it gets less funny every time he does it. But that didn't stop him from doing so again in his State of the Union last night.
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Gavin Newsom
So in my first year of the second term. Should be my third term, but strange things happened.
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Interviewer
Look at little Mike Johnson chuckling there in the back. Of course Trump lost in 2020. We all know that he can't run again, at least not legally. But he's been dropping hints about what comes next for his party and his movement, no matter how obviously uncomfortable the options are. In his speech last night, Donald Trump also profusely praised his vice president, J.D. vance, who once called him America's Hitler, I would note, as well as his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who once called him a con artist. Trump has also reportedly been polling advisors and confidants on which one of them should succeed him in 2028. So naturally, when I sat down with Governor Gavin Newsom, I asked him what he thought about those two potential MAGA successors. There are some people waiting in the Wings in the MAGA world who would love to be the chosen ones of the Trump orbit. J.D. vance is one of them. Marco Rubio is one of them. Do you think they can carry on the MAGA flame here?
- [19:50]
Gavin Newsom
No, but Vance, for whatever reason, scares me.
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Interviewer
Why?
- [19:56]
Gavin Newsom
Almost more than Trump. I don't know. I just, I mean, talk about a guy who put a mask on and his face grew into it. I mean, J.D. vance and Marco Ruby were two of the most effective critics. Just like that guy, what's his name, Graham Lindsay of Donald Trump. What frauds, what phonies. But JD Is a unique fraud and phony, and he's a little more dangerous. And the folks around him, these are not folks that believe. I mean, listen to some of its biggest funders, the way they talk. There's a nihilism to the way they talk about the world. I know these guys. I literally know them. Not figuratively know them, some of them are in the book, knew them back when. So, again, I don't want to be overly hyperbolic about this, but, you know, it's. But that said, it's going to be hard for Trump. Trump's still, you know, you think this guy is going to sit there in the Oval Office waiting for you to ask him a question and say, well, sir, Jen's not here. She's in Iowa with the debate with Vance. There's no damn way on earth. So he's going to try to run this out till right after the end, until he can pick and choose who goes behind him or, God forbid, we don't take back the House of Representatives. He may be on that ballot.
- [21:17]
Interviewer
He'll try.
- [21:18]
Gavin Newsom
I just wouldn't put it past him. I mean, look what he does. It's the old adage. Once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form. What he does, he. He tests all this. He throws the stuff out, sees how far, sees how you're going to react if you don't react all of a sudden. It's socialized now, it's normalized. And he'll just, you know, it's his, he'll keep taking it. So that's why it's so important that we not just say, oh, Trump's being Trump. Perhaps those are the most damning words in the English language right now. It's not Trump being Trump. You gotta call it out. None of this is normal. It's unconscious. And that's why the folks at Fox are such a disgrace, because they know better, and we don't think they know better. We know they know better. What was that big lawsuit where they had to settle? We saw all their emails, we saw their text messages, we saw what they're saying behind his back. And they're complicit because they're making a ton of money because that's all it's about. It's about their grift as well. Sorry, Jen. It's a world we're up against.
- [22:17]
Interviewer
It's important. You've been calling it out for people to be clear eyed about what he is capable of. You said this week there will not be a fair and free election in the United States of America as we know it unless we win back the House of Representatives in November. You've outlined this a bit, but what do you mean by that specifically? As people are trying to understand what that looks like. What does it look like in the season leading up to 2028?
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Gavin Newsom
Well, what is he? What is the one thing he connects all the dots to? The people he admires? They all have one thing in common. They're competitive. Authoritarians. I mean, Orban and Putin, the rest. I think Putin got what, 87.3% of the last vote? They love elections. I said fair and free elections. The illusion of elections. The voting roles. Pam Bondi tried to take them from California months and months ago. We're in litigation before she tried to do in exchange for troops moving out of Minnesota, wanting the election rolls. What is that about? Wake up, folks. What's the save act about? I was just down in the south. It's not just about IDs, it's about registration. Who can vote. I mean, this is Puerto Rico. The whole. This is. It's not blinking yellow. It's just, it's code red. It's happening faster than it happened in Hungary. It's happening faster than other takeovers in other countries, including Turkey. It's happening faster in real time. Look what's happening to media right now. Look what's happening. And it's the chill of free expressionist speech. It's not what's said, it's now what's not said. The stories that are not being pursued, the contracts that are not going to be renewed. It's him telling Susan Rice she needs to resign or there's no merger. The hell is that? So much deeper than Kimmel. This is serious, fair and free elections. How about democracy, freedom, free expression, free speech, all of it Code red in this country. And my fear is we get so easily distracted and they're so effective on the other side. And so it's just we continue, must continue to be mindful, laser focused on what's in front of us every single day until the job is done.
- [24:31]
Interviewer
The Constitution is very clear about Trump being able to run for a third term. And of course, states run elections. But you, as you said, you've grappled with this, you've thought about it, you dealt with some threats around Prop 50. What should every state be doing right now? What do you wish every state was doing to prepare for everything you just outlined?
- [24:50]
Gavin Newsom
Well, I think it's about a state of mind, of vigilance. They have to double down on all their voter protection. They have to double down on what the registrar of voters is doing and not doing as it relates to election security. And that's county by county. It's bottom up, not top down. States play a big role. Secretary of states do as well. But the registrars in each county play an even bigger one. We have to make sure all of us, these campaigns, but also our party, broadly, just people that believe the party, you know, the red, white and blue party, the American, you know, Americans, maintain their vigilance as it relates to legal defenses and strategies to make sure we call this out. We've got to push back against these purges of the voter rolls and the attacks on truth and trust. It's about creating so much distrust that he can create the conditions where then he can intervene and say there shall not be. I'll tell Speaker Johnson they may lose by 65 seats, say, well, you, you won't sit any of them because we have proof in these four places that this was a rigged election and try to play this out in the United States Supreme Court. And we already have numbers that will literally are so supine. I mean, I don't even have even my new Trump signature series. Knee pads are not large enough for those three justices. That's how real this is. It's happening on our watch. It's 2026. It's not 1906. It's not 1896.
- [26:18]
Interviewer
Some chilling words there from Governor Gavin Newsom. And up next, you're going to hear the governor respond to the right wing uproar he caused with a comment about his SAT score about a topic he talks about all the time, which is his struggle with dyslexia. You're also going to hear him call out one Fox News host by name. And of course, this interview did not end without me asking him about his plans for 2028. We'll be right back with more from Governor Gavin Newsom. Isn't Home where we all want to be. Reba here for realtor.com, the Pro's number one most trusted app. Finding a home is like dating. You're searching for the one with over 500,000 new listings every month. You can find the one today, download the realtor.com app cause you're nearly home. Make it real with realtor.com Pro's number
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John Lovett
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- [27:15]
Gavin Newsom
July 2024 to June 2025 it's tax
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- [27:47]
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- [28:18]
Interviewer
Foreigner Kevin Newsom on a cross country book tour for his brand new book out this week. It was really only a matter of time before he sparked an absolute freak out on the right. One of those attacks is about something Newsom said, about a topic he discusses a lot, which is his personal battle with dyslexia. He talks about it in his book in front of all sorts of audiences all the time. And he did it again during a conversation with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. In that conversation in front of the crowd, you can see on the screen, Dickens asked Newsom what he wanted the audience and readers to know about him. Newsom responded in part by saying, quote, I'm like you. I'm no better than you. I'm a 960sat guy. Well, some folks in right wing media and even some Republican lawmakers called those comments racist. And in our interview, I specifically asked the governor about the backlash to those comments, how it spread like wildfire online, what that tells us and some of the points his critics seem to be missing about what he's trying to say. You have a new book out this week.
- [29:23]
Gavin Newsom
A Politician with a Book.
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Interviewer
A Politician with a Book. Yeah, Newsbreak never happens when someone's contemplating maybe running for president. But that aside.
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Gavin Newsom
Oh, gosh, you went right there.
- [29:34]
Interviewer
I read the book. I learned a lot about you. And one of the things that struck me was that throughout the book, you paint a picture of really being torn between two worlds. You're torn between the world where you were a paper boy even in the rain, where your mother was working multiple jobs, and the world of your father and his relationship with the Getty family. And you kind of call it. You do call it out in the book where you say, you write about your concern that the deeper entry into the Getty world could rob you of your own hard earned story, which you say is one of the very reasons why you wrote the book. Why is that such an important perception for you to debunk for people?
- [30:12]
Gavin Newsom
Well, it's a perception I've been trying to debunk for years and years, and frankly, I walk right into it. I've only reinforced it in a defensive posture. So I thought I'd just take time to scrutinize my life, a life that's not just about being a politician. Quite the contrary. It was an effort to humanize not only my life, but to bring to life my extraordinary single mom and the idealism and sense of purpose that my father provided me.
- [30:40]
Interviewer
You've talked about your battle with dyslexia a lot publicly over the years. You wrote a children's book, and you talk about it a lot in the book in terms of dealing with undiagnosed dyslexia as a child. And MAGA is currently having an absolute meltdown on social media over comments you made on your book tour in Atlanta. And you said, just to remind people, while talking about your experience, you said, I'm like you. I'm a 960sat guy. Right wingers on Twitter and Fox News hosts and some even Republican elected officials have said that's racist. I mean, what goes through your head when you saw that commentary sort of building and bubbling?
- [31:19]
Gavin Newsom
Well, they didn't say it when I talked to Charlie Kirk and said the exact same thing, or the dozens and dozens of other occasions where I said exactly the same thing. It was a hell of a statement, particularly for people that have been countenancing racism in their party for decades. The same pundits, Sean Hannity, let's call them out by name, that didn't say one word. Still haven't said a word about the racist videos were put out about Michelle Obama and Barack Obama. Nothing. Not one word of condemnation. The president of the United States that put out those racist videos or shit, all countries or the birther issues. Not a word said. We're offended by someone who writes a book about learning disabilities and struggles academically and then expresses them in a mixed audience and somehow accuses that person of patronizing or somehow demeaning or being racist himself. That's a hell of a statement of the weaponization and the propaganda, the network, this machine that these folks have. And I'll tell you, forget me, put anyone else, this is what we're up against in this country.
- [32:22]
Interviewer
The book ends really before you become officially or inaugurated as governor and before Donald Trump is officially inaugurated to his first term. It doesn't talk a lot about Trump, but you do share an anecdote, the end of the book, about flying with Governor Brown on Air Force One. And it's a moment you also say you've reflected back on as you're trying understand Trump. And this part really struck me, right. It seemed to me that he, as in Trump, wanted to connect and be loved, that it was illusory, he couldn't connect in a genuine way. And you also said he had a deep, almost congenital capacity for feeling aggrieved. It struck me because you've spent so much time clearly thinking about your own upbringing and how that's impacted you. And I just wonder, how do you think Trump has become who he is today?
- [33:08]
Gavin Newsom
Yeah, I don't know that he got as many hugs as he needed. And I think a big part of who he is today is reflected in that. And I think, you know, he's in many ways a broken man. And that's why I think he tried to break our country on January 6, try to light democracy on fire. This guy's not screwing around, and nor should we in terms of our vigilance and response. But it's interesting. I paint, I hope, a human picture of Trump. If you're not interested in bio, you're not interested in someone's parents, grandparents, motivations, all that you may be interested in, you know, seeing that, you know, Donald Trump is, you know, petting the side of Air Force One and he's running me up to the cockpit. He's Running me into his bedroom, talking about how many beds he has and, you know, just some interesting back and forth and, you know, it really gave me an insight of him. It was the first time I ever met him. And it set the tone to how we engaged when Covid hit and actually how we had it remarkably good relationship, despite the fact we were jawing each other publicly. I could pick up the phone privately. And it marks why I was out there in the tarmac with him in Los Angeles. And it marked for me a consciousness that, you know, there are red lines with him, but he has a remarkable capacity to move beyond them and continue. And you see that over and over and over again. And so he's a complex person in every way, shape or form, but I think in so many ways he's broken.
- [34:34]
Interviewer
It's no secret you're considering running in 2028. You're not going to tell me if you're going to now or not. You're welcome to.
- [34:40]
Gavin Newsom
It's on page 50 of the book.
- [34:42]
Interviewer
Page 50. If people go out and buy the
- [34:44]
Gavin Newsom
book, best way to buy it's in bulk.
- [34:45]
Interviewer
What I'm interested in knowing from you, though, is you've been out there, traveling across the country. You've met with a lot of people in different communities, red states, blue states, purple states. What do you think? There's a lot of parlor games about what Democratic voters are looking for. You know, you can't, you hear, you can't be a. It can't be a woman. It has to be a fighter. It can't be a fighter. It has to be a white man from the Midwest. What do you. What are you hearing from people about? What do you think they want?
- [35:10]
Gavin Newsom
Well, I think they want someone who's. Knows why.
- [35:16]
Interviewer
Why they're running.
- [35:17]
Gavin Newsom
Yeah. Knows who they are, why they're running. That that is authentic and is honest, that can express a point of view and defend it. That may have contradictions, meaning they may not agree with every single thing, but they're able to at least articulate a why that, have some humility, have some grace and understanding that good people exist on the other side of those debates and conversations. And I think people want, and I heard this everywhere, and I was in the Deep south, went to a lot of churches, and perhaps it was not surprising, but in the spirit of Isaiah, they want a repair of the breach. It's like, we're just exhausted. This can't continue forever. And they also want this. And it's. Why? It's a complicated question. They want a fighter. They want someone who's going to stand up and have their back. The timidity, I'm not in any crowds that are looking for timidity. People want fighters, but also people that can heal. And I have no idea what my role is in that respect, but I'm one of them. I want that as well.
- [36:27]
Interviewer
You'll know before the rest of us.
- [36:29]
Gavin Newsom
We'll see. I don't know. That will be determined by those four perfect beasts that happen to be my kids and my extraordinary rock star wife.
- [36:38]
Interviewer
Governor Gavin Newsom, congrats on your book. Thanks for sitting down with me.
- [36:41]
Gavin Newsom
Appreciate it.
- [36:44]
Interviewer
I guess we'll see. And my thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom for being so generous with his time. His new book, Young man in a Hurry, which really lays it all out there. All the things is out now coming up. And breaking news tonight is that the guy you see on your screen partying on the taxpayer dime just fired a bunch of FBI agents involved in an investigation into his boss. And when it comes to the Trump cabinet tonight, that's really just the tip of the iceberg, as it often is. John Lovett is the co host of Pod Save America. And he joins me next. Next. Do you remember Donald Trump's very first secretary of Health and Human Services? My guess is you probably don't, but maybe this is going to jog your memory.
- [37:35]
Gavin Newsom
The breaking headline from the White House. President Trump demanding the resignation of Tom Price. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is out. He'll be replaced at midnight tonight. It comes after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money on luxury jets. I'm not happy.
- [37:52]
Interviewer
Okay. By the time Air Force One landed, Price was out. Those flights cost taxpayers more than $400,000. Price promised to personally reimburse the government, but only for the cost of his own seat. Just $52,000. He's paying back $52,000 in the plane's cost.
- [38:12]
Gavin Newsom
Unacceptable.
- [38:12]
Interviewer
Is that enough?
- [38:13]
Gavin Newsom
No, that's. No, that would be unacceptable.
- [38:17]
Interviewer
Unacceptable. He was passionate there. It was a legitimate scandal, even according to Trump. But now he's backing off with a new cabinet, one that is making the Tom Price scandal seem, well, awfully quaint. In just the past week, we've learned that Kristi Noemus flying around a taxpayer's expense on this luxury jet, you can see right there. And Noem is in the process of trying to purchase the jet using $70 million of taxpayer money. And then there's FBI Director Cash Patel. Last year, Democrats demanded an investigation into allegations Patel had used the FBI's 60 million dollar jet for date night with his girlfriend, a scottish golfing excursion with friends, and a trip to a luxury hunting retreat that is literally called boondoggle ranch. Just love that name. Then over the weekend, we found out patel used the FBI jet to travel to milan where he of course partied with the u. S. Men's hockey team. And now msnow is reporting on a new FBI whistleblower who claims that patel's personal use of the FBI jet actually delayed the bureau's response to the mass shooting at Boston brown university. Patel claims he was in Milan on official business and he has said that he will reimburse taxpayers for any personal travel he takes by paying for the cost of his seat on the flight, which is way less than the total cost of the flights, of course. So if we apply the tom price standard, the second administration is taking corruption to, well, staggering new heights. Joining me now is John lovett. He's a former speechwriter for president Barack obama, co founder of crooked media and co host of pod save america. And this Saturday you can catch the premiere of crooked on Ms. Now, a new weekly series that highlights the crooked media podcast. You know and love John, I guess. Welcome to the family. Or it's reunited. It's good to be reunited. I don't know. Either way, it's good to see you. It's great.
- [40:02]
John Lovett
It's good to see you too.
- [40:04]
Interviewer
Okay, so imagine I was reading. I mean, I've been following these cabinet stories so closely. I know you have been too. It's just absolutely ludicrous. I'm trying to imagine what we could have done with Trump's approach to the use of government resources. I mean, speech prep and Ibiza, everyone. I don't even know what. But the thing I wanted to ask you about is, I mean, obviously Kash Patel and Christina were really, really bad at their jobs. They do a lot of problematic things. But do you think their behavior is a political problem for Republicans running for office? Like, is it going to transfer to them in your view?
- [40:40]
John Lovett
I think so. I think this is so egregious. Nobody believes that cash patel had official FBI business in the Italian Dolomites. None of this is reasonable. Kristi Noem flying around Wall street Journal reporting to have like with her, like mile high fascist club lover Corey Lewandowski. That's what their allegation is. I'm not. I don't want to be. You know, I don't. They're all very quick with the lawyers over there on a plane they're claiming was for deportations. Looks like a pretty nice private jet that they got for deportation. Seems like it's more for them to fly around comfortably to do press events and, you know, press hits where they talk about overturning elections. So I, and I do think Republicans are embarrassed about this. Ted Cruz was asked about this and had this ridiculous answer where he says real Americans like seeing the FBI director drinking beer in a locker room in Italy. That's what they want him to be doing. It just doesn't pass the laugh test. I think Republicans are embarrassed. It's actually when we look back on this era, the fact that even now, with Trump and approval in the 30s, even now he's becoming a lean duck, even now, when it's easy, because nobody respects Cash Patel, nobody thinks Cash Patel's up for this job. He's a joke. He's a joke in right wing media. He's a joke everywhere. Even now they're not able to just tell the truth about the guy, that this is ridiculous and of course should be fired. So I do think this redounds badly for them. I think it's embarrassing and it contributes to a story that they're a rubber stamp for the most corrupt administration in American history.
- [42:13]
Interviewer
No question. He also looks like somebody who always wanted to be in a fraternity and never got into one. I don't know. That's what the visual reminds me of. Let me ask you, I mean, you, you. I sort of.
- [42:24]
John Lovett
And I can relate to that. People, some people can relate to that, you know.
- [42:27]
Interviewer
Well, there we go. Last night, in her response, you, I'm sure, watched, I know you watched Abigail Spanberger, Governor Abigail Spanberger's speech last night. You were a speechwriter back in the day. Before you did all the things you've done as of late. She, I thought, did a really effective job of kind of tying corruption and a little bit of what we're talking about to why it matters to people. I just wanted to play it for people, just to remind them and then talk to you about on the other side. He's enriching himself, his family, his friends. The scale of the corruption is unprecedented. There's the COVID up of the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms, putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation's capital. This is not what our founders envisioned, not by a long shot. I thought that was pretty good. I wanted to play it for you because I think a lot of Democrats are trying to figure out the right way to tie kind of corruption. And what we see is just this disgusting abuse of power and, you know, in all the ways to how it matters to real people. But what did you think of that and how do you think people should be talking about it?
- [43:40]
John Lovett
So I think sometimes I think what made it a good speech, a great speech, is it was clean. It was to the point, it was making an argument. And it allows the facts of what Trump is doing to speak for themselves. I think sometimes I feel like Democrats have been a bit scrambled by the fact that Trump is, you know, to say he's the most corrupt president we've ever had is an understatement because we've never had corruption on this scale in really a democracy. It's a kind of a Putin level, you know, Marcos in the Philippines style corruption, just brazen in our faces theft. They had Amazon puts a movie out as part of a bribe for Melania. Every empty theater in the country was part of a crime in our faces. And so sometimes that is exasperating and it leads Democrats to this sort of high dudgeon language. And I'm not saying it's not fair, I'm not saying it's not earned. But sometimes you don't need to sound like you're crossing the Delaware. You can just tell a simple story about what's happening, the facts are bad enough. And then relating it to the fact that now he is going to put tariffs back on that hit us that he's focused entirely on his own projects and awards and statues and corruption as opposed to actually solving solving the problems people wanted him to solve. Like that is the story. It's the truth. And it's not one you need to embellish.
- [44:58]
Interviewer
Tom. Love it. Well said. As always, welcome to the family. It's good to see you. Thanks for joining me. Great to be here.
- [45:04]
John Lovett
Yeah, thanks for having me.
- [45:06]
Interviewer
Okay, we have to sneak in a very quick break, but Lawrence has Congressman Ro Khanna standing by, lots to talk to him about. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
- [45:28]
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