California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Gavin Newsom is done playing nice.
After months of cozying up to the far right—hosting MAGA extremists on his podcast where he offered them praise, and trying on a strange “reach across the aisle” persona—the California governor made a sharp reversal. On Friday, the likely 2028 contender filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging the network manipulated video footage to falsely portray him as lying about a phone call with Donald Trump.
The lawsuit is a clear escalation, both legally and politically. It marks a decisive break from Newsom’s recent dalliance with right-wing media, and positions him squarely—once again—as a Democratic foil to Trump and the MAGA Media echo chamber that surrounds him.
The core of the dispute stems from comments Trump made on June 10 amid his military deployments that spawned unrest in Los Angeles. The former president told reporters he had spoken with Newsom “a day ago” to reprimand him over his handling of protests: “I called him up to tell him, got to do a better job, he’s doing a bad job,” Trump claimed he said. “Causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death.”
Newsom quickly countered in a post on X: “There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.”
The facts appear to be on Newsom’s side. A screenshot posted by Fox News anchor John Roberts showed that the only recent call between the two occurred on June 7—three days before Trump’s remarks.
But in Fox News prime time, Jesse Watters played video of Trump’s remarks—editing out the line where Trump specifically claimed the call was “a day ago.” That omission, Newsom says, made it appear as if he was denying the call ever happened. Watters fanned the flames: “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him? Why would he do that?” A chyron blared: “GAVIN LIED ABOUT TRUMP’S CALL.”
Newsom is suing for at least $787 million in damages, not coincidentally the same amount Fox paid to Dominion Voting Systems to settle its defamation lawsuit over election lies.
“Unfortunately, the past two years have shown that the Dominion settlement did not serve as the deterrent many had predicted,” Newsom said in the complaint. “Fox has continued to launder the stream of false information flowing out of the White House.”
Fox News dismissed the suit as a “transparent publicity stunt” and promised to fight it. But it’s the broader context that makes this legal move notable. It represents a dramatic pivot for Newsom, who just this spring launched a MAGA-curious podcast in which he gave a platform to far-right extremists like Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, and Michael Savage.
The show wasn’t subtle. Rather than challenge their talking points, Newsom mostly nodded along. His guests repeated lies about the 2020 election, dismissed the legitimacy of transgender people, and painted Democrats as corrupt enemies of freedom.
He applauded Bannon for his “advocacy” and that he “calls balls and strikes” as he sees them. In another episode, Kirk railed against higher education, LGBTQ rights, and the so-called “deep state,” while Newsom smiled, interjected politely, and praised Kirk’s political activism. “My son’s a fan,” he added at one point—an attempt at flattery that left many in shock.
That strategy backfired. Many Democrats and moderates recoiled, wondering why the governor of California was lending credibility to some of Trumpism’s most notorious figures who fanned the flames of January 6. Now, Newsom seems to have gotten the message. In recent weeks, he’s incessantly fired back at Trump and his allies on social media with a mix of memes and trolling, challenged the White House’s military deployments, and delivered a rare formal address to counter MAGA rhetoric.
“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences—just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom told Status in a statement. “Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
After months of trying to play nice with the MAGA mouthpieces, Newsom has perhaps come to realize they aren’t interested in the truth.
