Gavin Newsom tried to pull off a major image makeover.
But social media wasn't having it.
And Gavin Newsom just got exposed for this one move that left conservatives stunned.
Gavin Newsom's "hardscrabble" childhood story blows up in his face
California Governor Gavin Newsom appeared on the "All The Smoke" podcast trying to sell a version of his childhood that bears little resemblance to reality.
The 2028 presidential hopeful told former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that his mother worked "two and a half jobs" while he "was out there just kind of raising myself."
Newsom painted a picture of scraping by on macaroni and cheese and Wonder Bread, claiming "it was about paying the bills, man" and "hustling."
The hosts laughed when Newsom mentioned Wonder Bread, but he doubled down.
"Come on, the macaroni and cheese! This is how I grew up, bro," Newsom insisted.¹
Social media immediately called out the performance.
Former investment banker John LeFevre posted the clip on X, where it drew millions of views and brutal mockery.²
The problem? Newsom's father wasn't some struggling blue-collar worker — he was William Newsom III, a state appellate court judge and attorney who managed the Getty family trust.
Gordon Getty is the son of J. Paul Getty, who was at one time the richest man in the world.
Bill Newsom didn't just work for the Gettys — he delivered $2.2 million in ransom money when John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Italy in 1973.³
The elder Newsom spent decades as the Getty family's consigliere, directly managing the Gordon P. Getty Family Trust, estimated at more than $2 billion.⁴
The elite network Newsom doesn't want you to know about
Newsom's family connections run deeper than just the Gettys.
His aunt Barbara was married to Ron Pelosi, brother-in-law of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
His grandfather ran Governor Pat Brown's campaign for San Francisco District Attorney.
Jerry Brown, the former California Governor, appointed Bill Newsom to the state Court of Appeal in 1978.⁵
Gavin grew up attending private French-American bilingual schools in San Francisco.
When he was 23, he founded PlumpJack Associates with Gordon Getty's son Billy as his partner.
Gordon Getty himself provided the initial seed money — between $7,500 and $15,000 for the wine shop.⁶
The Getty family would go on to fund ten of the eleven businesses Newsom started over the next several years.
By the time Newsom ran for San Francisco mayor in 2003, he had received $2.1 million in loans from Getty.⁷
Newsom grew up in Larkspur, one of Marin County's wealthiest communities where household incomes dwarf the national median.⁸
Ann Getty lent Newsom's then-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle an Edwardian diamond tiara for their 2001 wedding and threw a lavish banquet for 500 guests at the Getty mansion in Pacific Heights.⁹
These aren't the markings of someone who was "hustling to pay the bills."
Republicans slam Newsom's political theater
Conservative critics didn't hold back.
Comedian Adam Carolla cut straight to the point: "His dad worked for Getty oil."¹⁰
Georgia State University associate professor Rob Jenkins joked that Newsom would "next be telling us about the guy at the pool who used to rub his leg hairs" — a reference to Joe Biden's fabricated story about his childhood.¹¹
U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt (R-TX) accused Newsom of "code-switching" his accent and demeanor during the interview to pander to black listeners.
Hunt called the performance "patronizing" and said it exemplified the disconnect between elite politicians and ordinary Americans.¹²
The backlash reveals a larger problem for Democrats eyeing 2028.
Newsom has been positioning himself as the face of the resistance to President Trump while hosting MAGA figures like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his podcast "This Is Gavin Newsom."
The strategy seemed designed to show Newsom engaging with conservative voters.
But the "All The Smoke" appearance exposed something uglier — a willingness to fabricate a working-class background to connect with audiences far removed from his privileged upbringing.
Newsom's office tried damage control, emphasizing that his parents divorced when he was three and his mother raised him while working multiple jobs.¹³
Nobody's disputing that single parenthood presents real challenges.
But Newsom's narrative ignores the massive advantages he enjoyed through his father's connections to one of America's wealthiest families.
The Georgetown neighborhood kid doesn't become a self-made millionaire restaurateur without Gordon Getty writing checks and opening doors throughout the San Francisco elite social circuit.
Newsom's 2028 problem just got worse
This isn't Newsom's first attempt to moderate his image ahead of a presidential run.
He's backed away from support for transgender athletes in women's sports during interviews with conservative figures.
He pushed California cities to crack down on homeless encampments.
He's even mimicked Trump's social media style, earning mockery from both left and right.¹⁴
But you can't rebrand decades of elite privilege with one podcast appearance.
Kamala Harris learned this lesson the hard way in 2024 when Trump's campaign spent millions highlighting her California progressive record.
South Carolina Democrat operative Antjuan Seawright noted that Democrats "already tried the California thing" with Harris.¹⁵
Newsom's "Growing Up Getty" problem — as conservative journalist Susan Crabtree labeled it — haunts his national ambitions.
Voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan aren't buying the mac and cheese story from a guy who attended $100,000 birthday parties at Getty estates.
The French Laundry scandal still resonates — Newsom dining at one of California's most elite restaurants during COVID lockdowns while small businesses collapsed under his mandates.
Now he wants working Americans to believe he understands their struggles because he ate Wonder Bread as a kid in his divorced mother's house between visits to the Getty compound.
Democrats face a brutal choice in 2028: double down on coastal elites who pretend to understand flyover country, or find candidates who actually come from the communities they claim to represent.
Based on this podcast disaster, Newsom just proved he's firmly in the first category.
And voters won't forget that anytime soon.
¹ Gloriel Howard, "Newsom Mocked Online as Social Media Exposes Viral Podcast Clip," October 28, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ William Newsom, Wikipedia, October 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Dan Walters, "Gavin Newsom's keeping it all in the family," CalMatters, January 2019.
⁶ Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, "NEWSOM'S PORTFOLIO," San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2003.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Howard, "Newsom Mocked Online."
⁹ James Reginato, "The Surprising Newsom, Pelosi and Harris Ties With the Getty Oil Dynasty," Newsweek, July 20, 2022.
¹⁰ Emma Colton, "Gavin Newsom mocked for claiming his family was 'hustling' to pay the bills," Fox News, October 26, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Howard, "Newsom Mocked Online."
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Steve Peoples, "California Gov. Gavin Newsom tries to rebrand himself ahead of a potential presidential run," Associated Press, May 15, 2025.
¹⁵ Ibid.
