Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Gavin Newsom Becomes Stuttering Mess As He’s Asked If Boys Can Become Girls

Screenshot/YouTube/This is Gavin Newsom

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom repeatedly stuttered as The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro pressed him on whether boys can become girls during a Thursday episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom.”

Newsom has enabled California schools to discreetly transition children without their parents’ knowledge or consent. Shapiro called out Newsom on his podcast for being unwilling to say “whether boys can become girls,” prompting a non-answer from the governor.

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“Yeah. I just don’t, well, I think, uh, I’m for the grace of God,” Newsom said. “Yeah.”

“I appreciate the sympathy … anybody who’s suffering with any sort of mental or physical condition, that’s terrible,” Shapiro responded.

Newsom responded with a platitude and more stammering.

“I mean, I think it’s been, it’s been the case for generations, for, in time immemorial. I, you know, God bless. I just, I don’t know how,” the governor said before Shapiro cut him off.

“Why is this a hard one?” he asked. “I just don’t understand why.”

“Why is it such a, uh, uh, I’m, I’m curious. I, I understand the political potency of it,” Newsom responded.

Shapiro retorted that it was not merely an issue of political potency.

“But it’s just, how, it’s so few, we’re talking about so few people that are, that are, that are struggling … with, with, with, with, with gender … issues,” Newsom said. “A lot of remarkable people, a lot of wildly successful people, and they’ve gone on in their life, have incredible lives. I just, I don’t know. There’s so much hate and bigotry, so much condemnation, so much judgment.”

Shapiro took issue with Newsom’s comments, asserting that “it is not an act of bigotry to say that a boy cannot become a girl.” He added that his children should not be taught in public school that boys can become girls.

“That is not an act of bigotry,” Shapiro said. “That’s an act of rationality and biological simplicity.”

Newsom claimed he “respect[ed]” Shapiro’s perspective and that “good people” hold different views on the issue. He deflected when Shapiro questioned him on whether the state of California respected his perspective.

However, Newsom expressed agreement with Shapiro that it was politically harmful to espouse the view that boys can become girls.

Newsom also signed a bill in 2022 making California a “sanctuary” for transgender-identifying children, allowing them to flock to the state to get sex change procedures in order to evade Republican-led state bans and parental consent laws. Furthermore, although Newsom has called men competing in women’s sports “unfair,” California’s Department of Education has refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s administration’s demand to prohibit men from women’s sports and spaces.

“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” Newsom said in a 2023 press release announcing the signing of several laws geared towards transgender children. “These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities.”