Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent a lot of time criticizing President Donald Trump for breaking the law, but on Saturday, journalist Kara Swisher pointed out it was Newsom’s law-breaking by marrying gay couples as San Francisco mayor that put him on the political map.
It was one of several moments Swisher challenged Newsom on his similarities with Trump during an event promoting Newsom’s new memoir in San Francisco on Saturday.
The book, titled “Young Man in a Hurry,” chronicles Newsom’s journey from misfit boy struggling with dyslexia to governor of the nation’s most populous state, and dwells on Newsom’s California and San Francisco roots. But its release coincides with its author’s rise as one of the nation’s most prominent politicians. Since President Donald Trump retook office last year, Newsom has become the face of the resistance to Trump.
Gov. Gavin Newsom greets the audience after presenting his new book “Young Man in a Hurry” at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, Feb. 28, 2026. (Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle)
In response to Swisher’s question about gay marriages, Newsom conceded the similarity, but said he sees a key difference.
“Yeah we broke the law,” Newsom said, “but when the court said stop, we stopped. The rule of law applied. We pushed the envelope. We used our moral authority … That’s one thing Donald Trump is incapable of. He doesn’t understand the difference between formal authority and moral authority.”
As evidence of Newsom’s elevated national profile, the Democratic governor began his book tour last weekend in Tennessee, followed by stops in Georgia, South Carolina and New York. Newsom has not formally declared his intention to run for president in 2028, but political observers noted the significance of the locations – Georgia is a swing state, South Carolina holds an early Democratic primary and New York City is home to many wealthy political donors.
Swisher needled the governor about his obvious presidential ambitions onstage during the event.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and journalist Kara Swisher discuss his new book “Young Man in a Hurry” at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, Feb. 28, 2026. (Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle)
“What prompted you to write the book? Aside from the obvious reason of running for president,” she joked.
The governor grinned and said nothing.
Newsom sparked some backlash at the start of the tour, first when conservatives accused him of talking down to Black voters when he told a crowd in Georgia that he scored low on the SAT in high school due to his dyslexia.
“I’m like you,” Newsom told the crowd. “I’m no better than you.”
Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said the remark was not directed at Black people, noting that the crowd was predominantly white and that Newsom talks about his SAT scores often, including in his book.
“This is fake MAGA-manufactured outrage,” Gardon wrote in a statement. “These are the same people who excused or ignored Trump’s racist ape video.”
Attendees receive free copies of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s book, “Young Man in a Hurry.” (Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Gardon found himself embroiled in controversy when he told the author of a book that derides Newsom and other Democrats as “Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors” in its title to “f- off.” The book’s author had requested a medical record proving Newsom’s dyslexia diagnosis.
Newsom sparked anger on the left as well when he suggested candidates needed to focus less on trans issues and more on the “culturally normal” issues in an interview with CNN as part of his book tour.
“Every member of the LGBTQ+ community has been accused of not being ‘normal’ at some point in their lives,” members of the California Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus wrote in response. “Arguments about cultural normalcy have been used to justify exclusion, discrimination, and even violence, and must not be restated.”
At the Saturday event, Swisher noted that she was one of the LGBT people who got married in San Francisco when Newsom was writing same-sex marriage licenses. Issuing those licenses showed real leadership, she said, because it was unpopular even within the Democratic Party.
Swisher pushed him on his “culturally normal” comment, asking if he was becoming too much like Trump in his quest to counter the president.
Newsom got defensive, and struggled to explain what he had meant.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about the problems he overcame while writing “Young Man in a Hurry” at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, Feb. 28, 2026. (Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle)
He pivoted, as he does so often, to his attacks on Trump, saying that his more aggressive political stances these days are motivated by standing up to the president.
“None of this is normal, and my whole point is this, we will lose our country,” Newsom said. “We will lose our republic.”
He wrapped up the interview by thanking his friends, family and mentors in the audience, including his sister Hillary, Mayor Daniel Lurie, former Mayor Willie Brown, and Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
The event, he said, reminded him “how special and proud I am of this city, and how proud I’m to have been born in this city and how lucky we all are to be in this precious and beautiful place at this remarkable time in American history.”
This article originally published at Newsom defends Trump-like tactics to counter president at S.F. event.