California Governor Gavin Newsom faced tough questions about his COVID-19 pandemic policies during a recent appearance on “The Shawn Ryan Show,” where he was pressed to defend decisions that have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum.
The episode, released Monday, featured a wide-ranging discussion between Newsom and podcast host Shawn Ryan, a former U.S. Navy SEAL. Among the topics discussed were California’s pandemic response, vaccine mandates for children, the impact of lockdowns, and Newsom’s political ambitions.
One of the most direct questions came via Ryan from podcast host Joe Rogan, who has been publicly critical of Newsom’s approach during the pandemic.
“Motherf**ker,” Newsom reacted after learning the question was from Rogan, before adding that he was a fan of the popular podcaster.
Ryan warned that the question would be “tough” and then read it aloud: “Who will be held accountable for mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children, which were unnecessary and ineffective, and who will take responsibility for the unprecedented increases in myocarditis and cancer cases among them?”
Ryan added a second part to the question: “Do you feel any remorse for that draconian decision that was obviously heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical companies’ desire for maximum profit?”
Newsom rejected the suggestion that pharmaceutical companies had influenced his decisions, stating, “I’ve passed some of the most progressive laws against Big Pharma in the nation.”
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He went on to defend California’s overall handling of the pandemic and emphasized that the state had worked in coordination with the Trump administration during the crisis.
“I mean, Florida shut down their bars and restaurants before California,” Newsom said.
“The question was, when did we start to unwind some of those restrictions? California was more restrictive and we were certainly aggressive at scale.”
Newsom said that his administration is compiling an “objective review” of its COVID-19 policies and comparing California’s outcomes with those of other states.
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Regarding vaccine mandates, Newsom said he relied on the advice of independent medical advisors.
“I took their advice, not as a doctor, but as a governor. So, with humility — seriously — humility and grace, I’ve asked them to have that report done. It’s going to be done next month. And it’ll be the only state that I know of that is putting out a truly objective review of what went right and what went wrong.”
Despite defending the decisions made during the height of the pandemic, Newsom acknowledged that some mistakes were made, specifically mentioning the closure of outdoor spaces.
“I know everyone’s a Goddamn- genius now in hindsight,” he said.
“But at the time, none of us knew what we were up against, including the President of the United States, who I worked very closely with.”
Then came the biggest blow of all…and it didn’t even come from Shawn Ryan.
Joe Rogan sent in a question by text, and Ryan read it out in full, leaving Newsom nowhere to run.
It was a reckoning for the Covid mafia and Newsom himself.
“Who will be held accountable for… pic.twitter.com/6rGR3dYEdX
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) July 15, 2025
Newsom also said that he worked more closely with President Donald Trump than any other Democratic governor during the pandemic.
“And I say that with the kind of humility he deserves as well — grace that he deserves in terms of the decisions he made early on. We were all up against something none of us had any experience on.”
Toward the end of the interview, Newsom addressed criticisms that California has become a national example of failed pandemic leadership.
“We weren’t the only state doing it, but the state of mind of the ‘California Derangement Syndrome’ — there’s a ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ no question. But there’s also ‘California Derangement Syndrome,’” he said.
“As if California stands unique in some of these interventions and respects. It’s true in some but not all.”
Newsom is widely viewed as a likely contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
His public defense of controversial pandemic-era policies is seen as an effort to shore up his record ahead of potential national campaigning.
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oh the vaccine didn’t save anybody
newscum is a sick, twisted, violent, racist, rabid animal.
Problem is that even I, a nonscientist did enough research to educate myself and found out by Spring of 2021 that Sars-CoV-2 was created by Dr Raph Baric at the University of NC circa 2003-2007. Also, one of his employees was the Chinese Virus lady who later became the principal scientist in charge of virus research at the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology. Also learned about Crisper Gene Splicing, Ferin Cleavage Sites and evolutionary Biology that is impossible for a virus to mutate “over night” and jump species yet alone to humans. By this time not even 2-3 months Later I knew something was very fishy about this pandemic. So Baric was enhancing the virus through gain of function research to make it more infectious to humans using humanized mice through GOF research to cause the ACE-2 receptor to more readily attach to human respiratory epithelial tissue in the lungs. This GOF research was mandated to be illegal by Obama in 2013, so Fauci with Drazik of Eco-alliance moved the research to Wuhan. I could go on and on but I knew all of this through open-source research before the end of 2021 and before I got the vaccine because my children would not let us visit our grandchildren unless we were vaccinated. Double vaxxed, not boosted we got COVID anyway twice in 2022. I used Ivermectin and it knocked it out in less than 36 hours. So, I knew the government and the media were definitely lying about that too. I could go further about the Military Olympic Games in Wuhan circa Oct 2019 and the athletes from France and Spain coming home with strange virus illnesses. Also Event 201 being attended by General Gao, the Chinese General in charge of the Wuhan Inst of Virology, also in attendance were Fauci, Gates and the CIA in Oct of 2019 in Washington DC> They were conducting tabletop exercises on how to combat disinformation about pandemics and how to use the media to control everything Yep we were set up everybody by the globalist and our own government. But it would not have been possible without the MSM.
So we are not going to hold “The Father of OWS” accountable? Unbelievable.
Newsom is a liar of epic proportions. His ability to lie is only out-stripped by his ability to dodge responsibility. As Alano Blanco said, I knew enough about 5th Grade Biology to know not one of the draconian mandates would make one bit of difference. Anyone could look at The Great Influenza in a history book and see that they would not work. The Left created Covid. The Left conspired with China to release it as cover for the theft of the 2020 Election. Saying, “we didn’t know” is simply a lie. Newsom gleefully and illegally clenched the fist of Government around the throats of the American Public and squeezed. All the while, he made sure his lifestyle was not infringed upon in the slightest. Rules for Thee, But Not for Me!
Newscum uses subtle body language. He uses his hands to draw you in to agree with what he is saying, sits in a non-threatening way (like a girl), and then manipulates, obfuscates and lies his way through and through.
He still won’t answer questions.