MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk says he was “connected” with California Gov. Gavin Newsom through Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former lover of both Newsom and, more recently, Donald Trump Jr.
Kirk spoke to Newsom for the first episode of the Democrat’s new podcast—which was met by a firestorm of progressive condemnation over comments Newsom made in the interview expressing opposition to letting trans athletes compete in women’s and girls’ sports.
“I got a phone call from Governor Newsom two weeks ago,” Kirk, the leader of the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA, told KTTV’s Exel Michaelson about how the interview came to be.
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He clarified that Newsom called him personally before adding they had “connected through Kimberly Guilfoyle.”
“Obviously, they have a shared past,” Kirk added.
Newsom and Guilfoyle met in the 1990s at a Democratic fundraiser, according to SFGate, and married in 2001. Guilfoyle became the first lady of San Francisco when Newsom became the city’s mayor three years later before they divorced in 2005.
Guilfoyle went on to marry businessman Eric Villency the following year, with whom she had a son, while Newsom married filmmaker and actress Jennifer Siebel in 2008. Guilfoyle split with Villency in 2009.
She would later be romantically linked with Donald Trump Jr. in 2018—the same year she left Fox News and joined Donald Trump’s first re-election campaign.
Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. got engaged in 2020 but ultimately went their separate ways after reports emerged late last year about Trump Jr.’s relationship with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson.
Trump Jr. and Anderson, who were reportedly seeing each other for six months before their relationship became public, have since been spotted together at political events after President Trump’s return to power. The couple sat together at Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
Guilfoyle, meanwhile, did attend Trump’s inauguration, but it’s not clear how much more she’ll be seen rubbing shoulders with MAGA’s first family; Trump has nominated Guilfoyle to be his ambassador to Greece, though she is yet to be confirmed. A source told People that the nomination was part of a plan to get Guilfoyle out of the picture, adding: “Bettina wants Kim out of the area.”
Guilfoyle’s apparent decision to help support the new media venture of her ex-husband—who President Trump frequently attacks as “Newscum”—comes as Newsom is being talked about as a potential Democratic candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
In the debut episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom” released Thursday, Newsom told Kirk he believes it’s “deeply unfair” to let trans girls and women compete in female sports in a significant departure from his Democratic party colleagues.
