Ben Shapiro Cornered Gavin Newsom With One Question That Left The Governor Speechless

Gavin Newsom's been throwing bombs at the Trump administration for months.

Now one of those bombs just exploded in his face.

And Ben Shapiro cornered Gavin Newsom with one question that left the Governor speechless.

Newsom folded when confronted about his own team's rhetoric

California Governor Gavin Newsom walked back his office's inflammatory attack on ICE agents during a Thursday interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.

The confrontation came after Newsom's press office posted on social media that the Minneapolis ICE shooting was "STATE. SPONSORED. TERRORISM."

Shapiro didn't let that slide.

"Your press office tweeted out that it was state-sponsored terrorism, which I mean, Governor, I do have to ask you about that," Shapiro said on Newsom's podcast "This is Gavin Newsom." "That sort of thing makes our politics worse. Yeah, I mean, it does. I mean, our ICE officers obviously are not terrorists. A tragic situation is not state-sponsored terrorism."

Newsom could have defended his team.

He could have doubled down.

He should have mentioned the state Shapiro all but flat-out admits his allegiance is to above America.

Instead, he folded.

"Yeah, I think that's fair," Newsom responded.

The Minneapolis shooting happened January 7 when ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good during an immigration enforcement operation.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called Good's actions "domestic terrorism," claiming Good weaponized her vehicle against federal agents.

Newsom's office fired back by calling the incident "state-sponsored terrorism."

But when Shapiro pressed him face-to-face, Newsom abandoned his own communications team.

The contrast between Newsom's rhetoric and reality

Newsom's walkback exposed the gap between his inflammatory public statements and what he admits privately.

Newsom's been going after ICE since Trump took office with increasingly extreme language – "authoritarian" operations, "secret police," even "Gestapo" tactics.

In September, Newsom signed legislation banning federal officers from wearing masks during operations even as ICE agents face violent threats and assaults.

After the Minneapolis shooting, Newsom claimed ICE was acting as Trump's "personal police force" that had "rampaged" America.

Shapiro asked whether California could do more to cooperate with ICE to prevent tragedies.

Newsom's answer contradicted everything he's been saying publicly.

"That's exactly what they do in California," Newsom said. "And we have over 10,000 that I've cooperated with since I've been governor of California. We work very directly with ICE as it relates to [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] state prison. California has cooperated with more ICE transfers probably than any other state in the country."

Newsom even admitted he vetoed multiple Democrat bills that would have stopped California from working with ICE.

"I vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that," Newsom said.

So Newsom's been quietly helping ICE while publicly demonizing them as terrorists.

That's the definition of having it both ways.

Newsom opposed abolishing ICE too

Shapiro didn't stop there.

He asked Newsom about Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling to abolish ICE entirely.

Newsom couldn't support that either.

"I disagreed when I think a candidate for president by the name of Harris said that in the last campaign," Newsom said. "I remember being on Chris Hayes hours later saying I think that's a mistake. So absolutely."

Trump critics called out Newsom's hypocrisy immediately.

His own wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom posted attacks on ICE the same day her husband was backpedaling on his podcast.

The "state-sponsored terrorism" post from Newsom's press office is still live on social media.

Newsom wants credit for resisting Trump while quietly working with federal immigration enforcement.

He wants to fire up the Democrat base with inflammatory rhetoric while admitting to conservatives that he thinks calls to abolish ICE are "a mistake."

The only thing Newsom proved in this interview is that he'll say whatever he thinks the audience in front of him wants to hear.

Shapiro exposed that in real time.

---

Sources:

• Lindsay Kornick, "Gavin Newsom walks back claim Minnesota ICE operations were 'state-sponsored terrorism,'" Fox News, January 16, 2026.
• Bob Hoge, "Gavin Newsom Sells Out His Own Communications Team, Backpedals on Their Vile ICE Statement," RedState, January 16, 2026.
• Katy Grimes, "First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom Escalates ICE Attacks as Governor Backpedals on His Podcast," California Globe, January 16, 2026.
• "Gov. Gavin Newsom: 'I disagree' with calls to abolish ICE," The Spokesman-Review, January 15, 2026.