California Governor Gavin Newsom<\/a> has tussled with Donald Trump without alienating the president\u2019s Silicon Valley supporters. His wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is striking a sharper tone.<\/p>\nIn an interview with Bloomberg\u2019s The Circuit, California\u2019s first partner called the rightward shift of some tech-industry titans \u201cdisheartening and disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you spend too much time in your bubble of wealth,\u201d Siebel Newsom said, \u201cwhere you only interact with people of the same economic ilk unless they actually are employed by you, I think that\u2019s a really dangerous place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several tech leaders with longstanding ties to Newsom have recently moved closer to Trump, including Sergey Brin, the Google co-founder who\u2019s been close to Newsom since his tenure as San Francisco\u2019s mayor, and Marc Benioff, the billionaire co-founder of Salesforce Inc. and godfather to one of the first California couple\u2019s four children.<\/p>\n
Benioff said last year that Trump is \u201cdoing a great job.\u201d Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., all based in California, have also contributed to Trump\u2019s White House ballroom project.<\/p>\n
Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker, is widely regarded as a key confidant and sounding board for her husband, who is seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. She has sponsored efforts to reduce gender pay gaps across the state and support children\u2019s mental and physical health.<\/p>\n
Her critical assessment contrasts with the governor\u2019s more conciliatory posture. Newsom acknowledged the difference in tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has strong opinions. I give a little more grace,\u201d Newsom said in the Circuit interview. While arguing that Silicon Valley is \u201cselling out\u201d to the White House, he called the industry\u2019s embrace of Trump \u201csituational.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI get the sort of corporate side of their decision making, sadly,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cI think the vast majority will quote unquote come back. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve gone that far as perceived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newsom has spent months trying to strike a balance as the tech industry drifts away from his party. Aside from sparring publicly with Elon Musk, he has largely avoided directly criticizing tech leaders he knows personally.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s centrist posture has at times frustrated progressive allies who are more critical of the technology industry and would like to see tougher oversight.<\/p>\n
At a recent news conference, labor leaders pressed Newsom to take a tougher stance on AI regulation, arguing that he would struggle to mount a successful presidential campaign if he doesn\u2019t move to curb automation and protect workers from job losses.<\/p>\n
Siebel Newsom was raised in a Republican household. Her family was struck by tragedy when her older sister, Stacey, was killed while on vacation in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really woke up after my sister died,\u201d Siebel Newsom said. \u201cBut I also lived with a lot of guilt and pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siebel Newsom went on to receive two degrees from Stanford University, with her documentary work focusing mostly on women representation and inequality. \u201cI got through it, to come out on the other side and realize that I survived and have this opportunity to be of service,\u201d Siebel Newsom said.<\/p>\n
As Newsom\u2019s national profile has grown, his family has found itself under growing scrutiny. Last year, the Democratic governor told the late Charlie Kirk during a podcast conversation that his son was a big fan of the conservative activist. To Siebel Newsom, the portrayal of her son\u2019s interest in Kirk and other conservative figures was overblown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just trying to get attention, curious. You\u2019re trying on masculinities at that age,\u201d she said. \u201cI was not happy about it because it\u2019s not our values and it\u2019s not who my child is.\u201d Siebel Newsom said Kirk\u2019s fatal shooting last year was \u201chorrible\u201d and she was sorry for his family.<\/p>\n
Newsom said his political life has taken a toll on his children. In one instance, the family decided to homeschool their daughter because of the strain. He remembered staging an eighth-grade graduation ceremony in the family\u2019s living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s politics,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s stuff you don\u2019t get back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newsom, widely seen as Democratic presidential contender, said he has no idea if he\u2019ll actually run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a family decision for down the line,\u201d Siebel Newsom said at their home in Marin County. \u201cIt\u2019s been a wild seven years. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Eliyahu Kamisher and Emily Chang, Bloomberg California Governor Gavin Newsom has tussled with Donald Trump without alienating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,387,7,8,400,457,181,1338,100,13,88,90,89,2280],"class_list":{"0":"post-177101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-california-politics","13":"tag-gavin-newsom","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-morning-wire","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-san-jose","19":"tag-san-jose-headlines","20":"tag-san-jose-news","21":"tag-silicon-valley"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}