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Governor Gavin Newsom has surprised a lot of people who thought he was a “moderate.” In a clip shared by Dave Rubin, Newsom backed a national billionaire tax and said he’s open to expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices. That’s not a tweak at the margins — it’s full-throated economic populism and court-packing talk rolled into one. Moderates who liked his glossy California image are waking up to a different playbook: compete with the left to win the left.
Newsom’s Billionaire Tax: Political Theater or Policy?
The governor’s call for a national billionaire tax sounds catchy — “tax the rich!” — but it ignores hard facts. Wealth taxes are messy, hard to enforce, and courts have already questioned them. California is no stranger to high taxes and capital flight. Tell a small business owner or a tech worker their stock options might get hammered and watch how fast “billionaire tax” stops sounding like fairness and starts sounding like a penalty for success. This is class-warfare messaging dressed up as economic policy.
Court Expansion: Court-Packing Talk Should Alarm Moderates
Openly saying you’ll expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices is court-packing by another name. When the other side threatened this in the past, Democrats called it dangerous. Now it’s suddenly a policy to fix inconvenient rulings. That double standard should bother anyone who cares about stable institutions. Packing the court isn’t reform — it’s politicizing the law. The result is less trust in federal courts and more legal chaos, which hurts everyone, not just the party out of power.
Why Moderates Are Shocked — And Why They Shouldn’t Be
Why the surprise? Because Newsom built a brand as a practical technocrat who could run a blue state without sounding radical. But his recent language shows a common truth: when national ambitions or intra-party fights heat up, even so-called moderates shift to the left to win progressive primaries. This is political math, not a change of heart. Governor Newsom is trying to straddle the progressive base and a broader audience — a risky balancing act that usually leaves moderates disappointed.
Conclusion: Stick to Principles, Not Polling
Conservatives should call this out plainly. We can debate taxes and court reform, but hiding behind trendy slogans while proposing risky, unworkable ideas deserves scrutiny. If Democrats keep moving left, the choice for voters becomes clearer: more taxes and politicized courts, or policies that protect the rule of law and economic freedom. That’s the contrast voters need to hear, and our side should make it loud and simple.
