California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a new interview that the Democratic Party is largely in step with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) on issues including universal healthcare, campaign finance and climate policy.
Newsom made the comments during an interview with PBS NewsHour, amid ongoing speculation about a possible 2028 presidential run. Asked whether recent electoral wins by democratic socialist candidates should push the broader Democratic Party to adopt more of that platform, Newsom said the shift has already happened.
“I think they are,” Newsom said. “I mean, we want money out of politics. I’ve been supporting clean money campaigns for decades.”
When the interviewer noted there appears to be some distance between Democratic Party leadership and DSA-aligned candidates, Newsom pushed back on the idea that the divide extends to policy.
“But, not the ideas,” Newsom said. “I believe in universal healthcare, and I believe in Medicare for All, the party does overwhelmingly. And so, if it’s about more money in your pocket, lowering costs, getting money out of politics, if it’s about Medicare for All, I think we’re pretty aligned.”
Newsom also pointed to climate change as an area of overlap. “It’s about recognizing that we’ve got a planet that is getting hotter and drier and that we’ve got to address the issue of climate change, we want energy security, and we want to move off fossil fuels. That’s a DSA position, that’s a mainstream position within the Democratic Party,” he said.
The governor downplayed concerns about the DSA’s growing influence within the party, describing the “democratic socialist” label as mostly a matter of branding.
“I think in many ways, it’s just a label … it’s just such a familiar label to me, we call them progressives,” Newsom said. “Maybe it’s just because I’m from California and I think it’s healthy … I’m not consumed by this.”
He added that DSA ideas reflect “aspects and component parts of our party that we’ve always had, and it’s a healthy dialectic within the party.”
Fox News Digital said it reached out to Newsom’s office, the DSA and the Democratic National Committee for additional comment.
What the DSA platform includes
The DSA describes itself as the largest socialist organization in the country. Earlier this year the group updated its platform to call for eliminating the U.S. Senate, replacing the presidency and the Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary selected by Congress, granting amnesty to all immigrants, and defunding the Department of War.
Those additions build on the DSA’s existing platform, which calls for an “immediate end to all deportations,” free migration between countries without restrictive immigration controls, and “extending full voting rights to people with criminal convictions and noncitizens.”
The organization was once viewed as a fringe element on the party’s progressive wing. In recent election cycles, however, DSA-backed candidates have defeated longtime establishment Democrats in several races, fueling debate over whether the group’s positions represent the party’s future direction.
