Gavin Newsom says the Democratic party “must fight fire with fire”
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Gavin Newsom is in his final year as governor of California. He’s also widely considered a potential presidential candidate for 2028—a possibility he has not ruled out—and he sees himself as a leader of Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump, often mocking his brash style on social media.
The governor sat down with NPR for an interview ahead of the release of his new memoir, Young Man in a Hurry. He talks about his early life as a kid in the San Francisco Bay Area, his strategy of simultaneously engaging with right-wing voices and ridiculing the president, and he explains why he refuses “to be a bystander to this moment.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Gavin Newsom is finishing up his final year as governor of California. |
| 0:05.0 | But lately, he's been touring the country to energize voters ahead of the midterm elections. |
| 0:10.2 | Good to see you. |
| 0:11.7 | I'll say hello. |
| 0:12.4 | Gavin. |
| 0:13.4 | I see you. |
| 0:14.2 | This week, we caught up with him in rural South Carolina. |
| 0:17.1 | It's an extraordinary moment. |
| 0:19.5 | He was stumping for Democrats in a county that voted for President Trump in the last two elections. |
| 0:25.3 | Donald Trump knows he's going to get crushed in the midterm election. |
| 0:30.7 | He knows he's going to be crushed. |
| 0:34.3 | Newsom says this is the kind of grassroots work that will help Democrats reclaim power. |
| 0:40.2 | County races matter. State races matter. You matter. City council members matter. Mayors matter. |
| 0:51.8 | Now, Gavin Newsom has not officially announced that he's running for president in 2028, but his busy travel schedule certainly resembles that of a presidential hopeful, and he is, at the moment, widely considered a leading potential candidate. |
| 1:07.6 | He's also out with a new memoir called Young Man in a Hurry. It tells a story of his |
| 1:12.5 | childhood, his struggles with dyslexia, and his political rise. Consider this, Gavin Newsom is one of |
| 1:23.0 | the loudest voices in the Democratic Party right now. He's pushing back on President Trump with his policies and his own viral all-caps social media |
| 1:32.8 | posts. |
| 1:33.5 | But what is the California governor's next move? |
| 1:42.0 | From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. |
| 1:52.3 | It's considered this from NPR. |
| 1:55.0 | In his final year, as governor of California, |
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