Gavin Newsom schools Tim Walz on why Dems are ‘losing’ young men to ‘bad guys’ like Charlie Kirk, online influencers

During the latest episode of This is Gavin Newsom, the two governors spoke about the ongoing issues in the Democratic Party regarding support among young men. Newsom, who previously interviewed high-profile conservative commentators Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, explained to Walz why these right-wing voices are resonating with young male voters and the working class.

"We’re losing them to these guys online, we’re losing them to people that I’m bringing on this podcast as well, that’s why I brought on Charlie Kirk," Newsom said, to which Walz claimed that they were "bad guys."

"But they exist," Newsom responded, "and we can deny they exist, they exist—not only do they exist, they persist. And they’re actually influencing young kids every single day."

Walz asked how to "push some of those guys back under a rock," to which Newsom said, "I think we have to first understand what their motivations are, I think we have to understand what they’re actually doing."

“When you talk to a guy like Steve Bannon, he talks about working folks and he talks about how we hollowed out the industrial core of this country,” Newsom explained. “So we can dismiss the notion of election denialism. We could completely dismiss what he did on Jan. 6. But I don’t think you can dismiss what he’s saying. Reminds me a lot of what Bernie Sanders was saying. Reminds me a lot of what Democrats said 20, 30 years ago.”

During the episode, Walz also expressed frustration over criticism from the right during the presidential election that he was not perceived as masculine.

“I saw it from me, and not that I spend too much time thinking about this and it just baffled me how much time they spent trying to attack me that I was not masculine enough in their vision,” Walz said. “They focused on it obsessively, which I think again is their obsession their weirdness we buy their frame on these issues of sexuality.”

The former vice presidential candidate added that he “scares” the right with his masculinity. “I think I scare them a little bit, that's why they spend so much time on me,” Walz said, prompting laughter from Newsom. “No, I’m serious, because I can fix a truck they know I’m not bullsh*tting on this.”

Walz went on to claim he could “kick most of their a**" and attributed the criticism to misogyny, adding that individuals on the right are motivated by both misogyny and racism.

Newsom pushed back on this claim, arguing that “Not everybody that disagrees with us is a misogynist. This notion of toxicity and masculinity needs to be separated, and I think it's been conflated.”

Throughout the 2024 election, Walz was used as an example of why the Democratic Party has such low support among young men. The Minnesota governor was mocked for numerous mannerisms, including how he waved to crowds and how he used a straw. He was also nicknamed “Tampon Tim” by President Donald Trump, who mocked him for his support of putting menstruation products in boys’ restrooms in schools.

During the podcast, Walz conceded that he may not be the best person to answer why the Democratic Party has failed to garner enough support from the American public due to the failure of the Harris-Walz campaign.

“I’m probably the last person you should ask for answers because I didn’t get it done, but I do believe that we are making inroads,” he said.