Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky sharply disagreed with a decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom of California to host Steve Bannon, one of the architects of the MAGA movement, on Mr. Newsom’s new podcast this week, saying Mr. Bannon’s voice should not be elevated “on any platform ever, anywhere.”
Mr. Beshear, a Democrat who was vetted to be former Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024 and who is considered a possible candidate for president in 2028, made his comments on Thursday, shortly before speaking to House Democrats gathered for a planning retreat in Northern Virginia this week.
“I think that Governor Newsom bringing on different voices is great,” Mr. Beshear told a small group of reporters. “We shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to debate just about anyone. But Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger and even at some points violence, and I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform — ever, anywhere.”
Mr. Beshear was speaking to the conference along with two other Democratic governors who are considered possible 2028 contenders: Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
Mr. Newsom is also considered a potential 2028 candidate. He started a podcast this month, bringing on big-name conservatives including Mr. Bannon, a fierce Trump loyalist, and Charlie Kirk, who leads Turning Point USA, the conservative network.
Mr. Newsom’s decision to host Mr. Kirk and especially Mr. Bannon has received some blowback. Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman who did not run for re-election in 2022 after becoming a vocal Trump critic, said in a video that hosting them was “insane.”
“Many of us on the right sacrificed our careers taking these people on, and Newsom is trying to make a career with them,” Mr. Kinzinger said.
Mr. Newsom explained himself in an email to supporters on Wednesday.
“I think it’s critically important for us to understand how the MAGA-right organized itself during the last election and what they are thinking about in the weeks, months and years ahead,” Mr. Newsom wrote. “I also don’t think there’s anywhere else someone like Steve Bannon — a self-proclaimed populist — is going to be asked to defend the harmful impact of Trump’s tariffs.”
Mr. Newsom’s next guest will be Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Ms. Harris’s running mate last year.
In his podcast with Mr. Kirk, Mr. Newsom split with some in his party when he said that participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports was “deeply unfair.”
Mr. Beshear drew a distinction with Mr. Newsom on that issue, as well. In 2022, Mr. Beshear vetoed legislation that would have let student athletes play only in sports based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. His veto was overridden.
“I think that sports need to be fair, but I believe that our different leagues have more than the ability to make that happen,” Mr. Beshear said on Thursday, adding that the Kentucky high school athletic association had its own rules to prevent any “unfair advantage.”
“But our Legislature decided they needed to pass something anyways,” he added. “And you know what they did? They took away an opportunity for the only trans athlete we had in our state, who’s a middle schooler, who started a field hockey team at her school that had never had one to make friends.
“I mean, surely, we can see some humanity and some different perspectives in this overall debate’s that going on right now.”
As for Mr. Newsom’s podcast, Mr. Beshear said he had not listened to the full episodes.
“I haven’t yet,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t tell him that.”
