The Democratic Civil War Has Started. Who Will Triumph?

On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom released the first episode of his new podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, where he was joined by an unexpected guest.

Charlie Kirk, a committed supporter of President Donald Trump and the head of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA, spoke with Newsom about a range of subjects, including identity politics, youth engagement in politics and the growing power of podcasts as a media form.

The Democratic Party has been reeling from its presidential defeat in the November, which saw Trump triumph over then-Vice President Kamala Harris—securing 312 electoral votes to the Democrat’s 226. Further compounding Democratic woes, the Republicans also took control of the Senate and held the House, meaning they have a majority in both chambers of Congress.

Newsome, who has been widely tipped as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, used the interview to discuss a number of his party’s major concerns.

When Kirk asked, “Is there a place for a pro-life Democrat in the Democratic Party?” The governor replied: “There should be. On principle, there should be.”

Newsom also described the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports as “deeply unfair.” He said an ad in which the Republican candidate argued that “Harris is for they/them; Trump is for you” was a “brutal” and “brilliant campaign commercial.”

Newsom’s remarks triggered an immediate backlash from within the progressive movement, with former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot calling them “disgusting.”

She added, “There are kids waking up today in California with this news thinking that their governor hates them, and rightly so.”

Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said: “Our message to Gov. Newsom and all leaders across the country is simple: The path to 2028 isn’t paved with the betrayal of vulnerable communities—it’s built on the courage to stand up for what’s right and do the hard work to actually help the American people.”

California Representative Sara Jacobs, the vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, told Politico, “What’s unfair is the targeting of transgender kids and politicians abandoning them for political expediency.”

Newsweek contacted the Democratic Party for comment outside regular office hours via the online inquiry form on its website.

Speaking to Newsweek,Thomas Gift, a political scientist who heads the Center on U.S. Politics at King’s College London, said Newsom’s remarks likely show the direction of travel within the Democratic Party.

“Newsom’s comments show that he’s serious about 2028,” he said. “In short, he gets it. He understands that running to the left on social issues isn’t a political winner. The only question is how quickly other Democrats follow his lead.”

“Democrats who insist on running as left-wing culture warriors won’t be running very long. That’s just simply not where the median American voter is at the moment,” Gift added.

Mark Shanahan, an American politics expert who teaches at the University of Surrey in the U.K., took a similar view.

He told Newsweek: “The U.S. has taken a turn to the right, and the next presidential election will reflect that. Whoever challenges for the Democrat nomination will have half an eye on the national battle, where the economy, security and national pride are likely to outweigh liberal issues. The Californian governor is simply setting his stall out early.”

The debate within the Democratic Party over Newsom’s latest comments reflects a more general division on why the party lost the 2024 presidential election, with more centrist elements attributing this to unpopular stances taken by progressives on culture war issues.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll published in January found that 79 percent of Americans did not believe people assigned male at birth who identified as female should be able to take part in women’s or girls’ sports, including 67 percent of those who identified as or leaned Democratic.

Speaking at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics on February 18, Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary and another possible 2028 Democratic presidential contender, argued that certain progressive positions were turning people into Trump supporters.

He said: “What do we mean when we talk about diversity? Is it caring for people’s different experiences and making sure no one’s mistreated because of them, which I will always fight for. Or is it making people sit through a training that looks like something out of Portlandia, which I have also experienced, and it is how Trump Republicans are made.”

In February, Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, hosted an event focused on the party’s 2024 electoral defeat. It attributed the loss to what it said was an overfocus on identity politics, too much commitment to an unpopular government bureaucracy and economic factors.

The organization urged Democrats to focus on “patriotism, community, and traditional American imagery” and celebrate “moderation, individualism, and masculinity” going forward. It said the party should abandon “far-left candidate questionnaires” and move “away from the dominance of small-dollar donors whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate.”