California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a campaign event Tuesday evening that he stayed close with Charlie Kirk after he appeared as his debut guest on his podcast, ‘This is Gavin Newsom,’ in January.
‘He was gracious enough, to not only say, yes, he flew out, to do it in person,’ Newsom said to progressive political commentator Bryan Tyler Cohen.
‘And I spent not just the hour plus, in a very civil conversation with Charlie, I spent time with him after, and we stayed in touch, including my team, stayed in touch pretty consistently,’ the liberal governor said.
Kirk and Newsom clashed over transgender athletes in women’s sports on the podcast, but Newsom — breaking with his progressive base — sided with Kirk, calling it ‘an issue of fairness’ and ‘deeply unfair.’ He also noted that his own children watch Kirk’s videos.
‘Obviously, we have deep differences of opinion,’ Newsom said Tuesday. ‘Obviously, he was very offended by positions I hold dear, and I, in turn, very offended by things that he said in positions he held. But the fact is, we had that opportunity to engage.’
‘It’s all at stake,’ the governor continued. ‘This is a profound and consequential moment in American history. We can lose this republic if we do not assert ourselves. And stand tall at this moment and stand guard, to this republic and our democracy.’
The comments came during a three-hour livestream rebranded as a Voter Registration Day Rally after Kirk’s death. Newsom framed his ‘FAFO 50’ (F— Around and Find Out) redistricting measure as part of a broader battle against what he called a ‘code red’ threat to American democracy. Joined by Democrat politicians, celebrities and influencers, Newsom claimed President Donald Trump and his allies are undermining institutions from universities to the Justice Department, and pushing to redefine dissent as ‘hate speech.’
Newsom urged Democrats to wield their ‘moral authority’ with ‘muscularity’ to counter Republican redistricting efforts.
‘We need to win this,’ he said, ‘or we lose this republic, we lose this democracy.’
Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA — the nation’s largest grassroots conservative youth movement — was assassinated last week at Utah Valley University during his ‘American Comeback Tour,’ where he invited liberal students to challenge him in open debate and ask questions.
Suspect Tyler Robinson was formally charged by the state of Utah on Tuesday. Robinson espoused far-left ideology and had a ‘hatred’ for Kirk’s views, according to an indictment.