{"id":389060,"date":"2026-07-07T11:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/389060\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:15:09","slug":"jennifer-siebel-newsom-sought-to-redefine-the-role-of-first-spouse-now-she-faces-her-biggest-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/389060\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Siebel Newsom sought to redefine the role of first spouse. Now, she faces her biggest test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jennifer Siebel Newsom was frustrated.<\/p>\n

She was standing behind her husband, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, at a February press conference<\/a> to celebrate a new bill that would give Planned Parenthood<\/a> emergency funds. A throng of women\u2019s advocates, including herself, had spoken about how the law would help women access healthcare. But now reporters were asking a barrage of off-topic questions, from the California High Speed Rail to the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n

She paced, she swayed, she laughed with displeasure. Finally, she stepped closer to her husband and gently nudged him aside. She found it \u201cincredulous,\u201d she said, that they had assembled all these allies only for the reporters to ask about other issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happens over and over and over and over again,\u201d she said as Newsom smiled awkwardly. \u201cYou wonder why we have such a horrific war on women in this country and that these guys are getting away with it. Because you don\u2019t seem to care. So I just offer that with love.\u201d <\/p>\n

All of a sudden, Siebel Newsom herself was the news. One of Sacramento\u2019s top female journalists, Ashley Zavala, shot back on X<\/a> that reporters were just doing their jobs and the way they were treated \u201cwas not normal.\u201d Right-wing media blasted out headlines from \u201cGavin Newsom\u2019s wife scolds reporters<\/a>\u201d to \u201cGavin Newsom\u2019s wife slams reporters for \u2018horrific war on women\u2019 in extraordinary rant<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scene underscores Siebel Newsom\u2019s predicament as her husband positions himself as Trump\u2019s chief antagonist and prepares for a possible 2028 White House run. <\/p>\n

\"Jennifer <\/p>\n

Jennifer Siebel Newsom with California Surgeon General Diana Ramos.<\/p>\n

(Gary Coronado \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

She came to Sacramento with a mission to speak up for women, calling herself \u201cfirst partner\u201d to signal she would carry on the theme of her work as a documentary filmmaker and nonprofit leader: dismantling gender norms. But as her husband raises his national profile with a podcast, a memoir and daily trolling of President Trump, she finds herself under mounting scrutiny.<\/p>\n

In June, Newsom accused Trump of weaponizing the Department of Justice to launch a politically motivated attack<\/a> on his spouse after federal agents knocked on the doors of the Newsoms\u2019 friends and former employees, asking about Siebel Newsom\u2019s taxes and nonprofit businesses. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo get me, he\u2019s coming after my wife,\u201d Newsom said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A federal source said the investigation began not with Trump, but after federal officials spoke to whistleblowers in Sacramento. Whatever the origin or merits of the probe, Siebel Newsom has long faced questions about her finances<\/a> \u2014 specifically her nonprofits\u2019 partial reliance on donations from companies that lobby the governor, a strategy that does not violate California law but raises concerns about the influence of large corporations in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Her decision to use the title \u201cfirst partner\u201d and her work \u201cdeconstructing\u201d gender are also attracting criticism from the right in the post-#MeToo era as many Americans chafe against what they perceive as radical attempts to undermine traditional values and policing of what they say and do. <\/p>\n

\"California <\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on at his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.<\/p>\n

(Mario Tama \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

To Siebel Newsom, the critiques of her work and the federal probe are part of a broader hounding of women who enter the public sphere. When federal agents targeted her associates, she was promoting \u201cMiss Representation: Rise Up<\/a>,\u201d her new film examining the role technology plays in fueling what she describes as \u201cthe rising backlash against women\u2019s progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing young women hold themselves back from wanting to pursue careers \u2026 not just political leadership, and it\u2019s extremely disturbing,\u201d Siebel Newsom told CNN in June<\/a>. \u201cIt is a backlash, a backslide, and it is happening at an unprecedented scale, where ultimately we are silencing women\u2019s voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

She disagreed with those who say scrutiny is the price of admission for being in public life. \u201cWomen and girls deserve to be protected,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone aspiring to a public service career deserves to be safe. It should be fundamental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Untangling legitimate political criticism from deeply ingrained gender bias is not easy. Women in the public eye are frequently held to a different standard than men. But some political experts question whether a woman who refuses to stand on the sidelines \u2014 raising her voice on radioactive culture war issues and benefiting in part from her marital status to fund her nonprofits \u2014 can reasonably expect to be excluded from the rough and tumble of her husband\u2019s political life.<\/p>\n

Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University law professor and political commentator, said Siebel Newsom had been subjected to heightened public scrutiny for years. \u201cThat I think is likely fair,\u201d she said, \u201cin the sense that she has said that she\u2019s very much a partner of the governor, and she has used this platform to advocate for causes that she cares about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Levinson said, Siebel Newsom\u2019s availing herself of the public forum did not mean she had violated the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes the fact that she has created and run nonprofits that receive behested contributions from Gov. Newsom put her and her actions in a different spotlight?\u201d she said. \u201cAbsolutely, but that doesn\u2019t mean that she\u2019s doing anything nefarious. It just means that their life and their finances and their jobs are a little bit more complicated than other first families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raised in an affluent suburb in Marin County, Siebel Newsom, 52, grew up in privilege. Her father was an investment manager and prominent GOP donor, her mother a co-founder of the Bay Area Discovery Museum.<\/p>\n

After studying Latin American studies at Stanford and volunteering in Ecuador and Africa, she returned to Stanford to earn an MBA. Then she moved to L.A. to try to break into Hollywood. She got small parts in \u201cMad Men\u201d and \u201cRent,\u201d but has said<\/a> she \u201cwas typecast as a trophy wife and kind of put into this box.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sparked her interest in getting behind the camera.<\/p>\n

Around the time she married Newsom<\/a> in 2008 and got pregnant with her first child, she began work on \u201cMiss Representation<\/a>,\u201d her debut 2011 film that examines how mainstream culture limits female potential and power by focusing on youth, beauty and sexuality. <\/p>\n

When Newsom was elected governor, she announced she would eschew the traditional title of \u201cfirst lady.\u201d <\/p>\n

The \u201cfirst partner\u201d title, she has said<\/a>, is not just gender inclusive and gender expansive. \u201cIt disrupts some of the male-coded language we associate with leadership, versus a \u2018lady\u2019 who sits on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" <\/p>\n

Jennifer Siebel Newsom.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Over the last 15 years, Siebel Newsom has worked on a series of documentaries and founded nonprofits focused on gender equity, the Representation Project<\/a> and California Partners Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe walks the walk,\u201d said Amy Ziering, a documentary filmmaker whose films Siebel Newsom helped produce. She did not take the role lightly, Ziering said, noting she watched cuts and took notes, made introductions and brought people to screenings. The fact that Siebel Newsom kept pressing women\u2019s issues as her husband became governor, Ziering said, reflected her integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not diminishing her beliefs, her values, her principles or any other kind of long-term goals\u201d Ziering said. \u201cShe shows up, \u2018This is what I believe,\u2019 and maybe it\u2019s not politically efficacious to believe this right now, or to say \u2018I believe it\u2019 \u2026 but she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, Siebel Newsom took on another public role, testifying in Harvey Weinstein\u2019s sexual assault trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did not have to do that, she could have been Jane Doe,\u201d Ziering said. \u201cThat\u2019s about showing up for other women and for all sexual assault survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristina Garcia, a former assemblywoman who represented southeast L.A. and worked with Siebel Newsom on women\u2019s legislation, said she thought Siebel Newsom would be a target no matter what.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think she sees the power that she has, and it\u2019s like, why should she just sit in the background?\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t she use her power to uplift women and children … these things she\u2019s been really passionate about?\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sacramento and across liberal California, Siebel Newsom\u2019s ideas on women and gender are relatively mainstream.<\/p>\n

But as the 2028 election looms, conservatives have dredged up old clips, highlighting Siebel Newsom\u2019s comments about parenting and deconstructing gender roles to portray her as \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cwoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one video<\/a>, Siebel Newsom said that when she reads to her children she changes the protagonist\u2019s gender from \u201che\u201d to \u201cshe\u201d to show women matter and can center a story.<\/p>\n

In another, she raised concerns about boys<\/a> being exposed to \u201calt-right socialization online that we know is very, very dangerous.\u201d She and her husband, she noted, were alarmed to find their son had encountered misogynist influencer Andrew Tate while watching sports online.<\/p>\n

Some conservatives have noted, with glee, that Siebel Newsom could be a liability for her husband as he seeks national office.<\/p>\n

\u201cJennifer Siebel Newsom is the very avatar of Democrat Woman,\u201d a New York Post columnist wrote<\/a>. \u201cHaughty, hectoring and pleased with herself, she is single-handedly wrecking her hen-pecked husband Gavin\u2019s lofty political ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Oxnard) pushed back on the idea that Siebel Newsom was some kind of strident activist or woke scold. After working with Siebel Newsom on equal pay and bringing more women onto corporate boards, she said Siebel Newsom was adept at working with corporations to find common ground and recognize what businesses need to be successful.<\/p>\n

The scrutiny of Siebel Newsom comes as her husband tries to stake out a more centrist stance on some issues.<\/p>\n

Last year, Newsom inspired the ire of some Democrats by launching a podcast<\/a> in which he chatted with right-wing figures, such as Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and Trump\u2019s former chief strategist Steve Bannon. On its debut episode, Newsom distanced himself from his party\u2019s left flank, calling the dismantling of police departments \u201clunacy.\u201d Allowing transgender athletes to participate in women\u2019s sports, he said, was \u201cdeeply unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked why, Newsom told The Times<\/a> his party had become out of touch with ordinary Americans. \u201cThey think we\u2019re elite,\u201d he said. \u201cWe talk down to people. We talk past people. They think we just think we\u2019re smarter than other people, that we\u2019re so judgmental and full of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

On this point, it\u2019s not clear whether the Newsoms are in sync.<\/p>\n

For all her talk of women as allies, Siebel Newsom portrays conservative women who criticize other women as dupes manipulated by MAGA leaders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is that the far right really is using women to go after other women,\u201d she said in June on the \u201cHysteria\u201d podcast<\/a>. \u201cSo I find it very intentional on their part that they have essentially sent the women out to humiliate, demean, ridicule, mock, silence another women. But that\u2019s just the patriarchy, right? … And that\u2019s what we have to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, she has voiced doubt about whether she would continue to go by \u201cfirst partner\u201d if her husband were elected president.<\/p>\n

Asked in 2023, Siebel Newsom said she didn\u2019t know if Americans were ready for a \u201cfirst partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly,\u201d she said, \u201cI don\u2019t know if they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even as conservatives mock Siebel Newsom\u2019s patrician \u201cgirl power\u201d message and activist jargon, she shows few signs of backing down. <\/p>\n

As she has taken \u201cMiss Representation: Rise Up\u201d to film festivals in New York and Washington, D.C., she has upped her call for more Big Tech regulation.<\/p>\n

An advisor from the first partner\u2019s office said Siebel Newsom had been an advocate for women and girls before she met Newsom. That was unlikely to change, they said, as she faced growing right-wing scrutiny or a federal investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no strategy change here,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n