Newsom acknowledges that Democrats lost credibility during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not recovered

California Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke with podcaster and academic Scott Galloway on Thursday about how the Democratic Party has made a huge mistake in recent years that continues to damage its image.

In the “Prof G Pod” podcast, Galloway pointed to Los Angeles as an example: “LA feels like a representative of – if the Democrats can’t figure out how to manage the cities and make them work, we’re going to have a problem across the board in terms of elections.”

While Newsom said progress has been made in California, he acknowledged it hasn’t been seen or heard as much as it should be.

“The perfect reflection of that failure, the result of the affordability crisis, is what’s happening with homelessness on the streets,” he said. “Insecure homelessness, the camps in particular, the indifference that has increased during and after COVID as it relates to tents on the streets and sidewalks, the quality of life, the decline in quality of life and this perception that we can’t do anything about it.”

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Newsom argued that the inability of local leaders to take action on the issue reflects “this kind of victim mentality, frankly, that is almost ubiquitous in many leaders in local government.”

“In a way we were using the standard that it’s compassionate to trample people in the streets and on the streets in the name of, you know, their freedom,” he said. “In fact, the breakdown of communities, businesses affected by that, the structure of the family – you know, a mother who just wants to drop off her child in the playground, or in the stroller – she was angry and angry and distrustful of the government.”

“That’s the story that explains people’s anger. It’s the story that explains my anger as governor,” added Newsom. “Here’s the good news. For the first time in nearly two decades, Scott — no other governor has been able to say this in decades — we’ve seen almost a double-digit decrease in the homeless population in the state of California.”

Galloway noted that he likes to visit the LA area where he was born and raised but usually only stays in a nice hotel “bubble” where people come to visit him.

“Every time I step outside of my bubble, I somehow suffer from extreme homelessness,” he said.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ridiculed the belief of some liberals that the homeless have the right of all Americans to drown in public spaces. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images; Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Newsom cited progress on the homeless issue in California, including LA, due to new policies in the state that did not exist six or seven years ago.

“Also, the state didn’t have a homelessness strategy, a homelessness plan. It wasn’t in cities and counties,” he said, noting various changes, including using more force to get people off the streets.

“And again, the flywheel. Progress has been made in the end, but there is, you’re right, a lot of anger and frustration, especially in the second largest city in the country, LA,” Newsom said.

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Homelessness spiked during the COVID-19 crisis, especially in Democratic Alliance cities. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Later in the interview, Newsom was asked which actions he was proud of and which he regretted during his administration.

“You know, I think the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is that we are considered too slow, too weak, and ineffective,” he said. “We have to be more aggressive, stronger, stronger, more clear, more confident.”

He also pointed out that the American people are very wary of the government after dealing with irregularities during the COVID-19 crisis.

“You know, we lost a lot of trust during COVID, and we still haven’t recovered,” she said. “And I think we showed how much has changed since COVID, and I was slow to understand how much has changed.”

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“So it’s not a specific act of ours,” he said trying to remember an act he was proud of or one that missed the mark. “But I think, just a broad appreciation of the tone is that everything has changed, but I haven’t changed to the point where I should be the leader of the fourth largest economy in the world. I’ve started to deal with that in very strong ways, but I think that would be something that I would think about as a point of criticism and reflection.”