CNN Fact-Checks Gavin Newsom’s Latest Flip-Flopping on the ‘Latinx’ Community [WATCH]

California Governor Gavin Newsom was challenged Thursday night on CNN over his recent denial that he or his office ever used the term “Latinx” to describe the Latino community, a claim disproven by multiple past statements and social media posts.

During an appearance on Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s podcast, Newsom claimed he had never used the term, which has become associated with progressive political rhetoric.

CNN host Erin Burnett and KFile senior editor Andrew Kaczynski aired a segment debunking that assertion by presenting clips and posts directly contradicting Newsom’s statement.

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“But there was a person who used Latinx, it was actually a very important person. It was him,” Burnett said, referring to Newsom after playing video footage of him using the term.

Kaczynski added, “Yeah, that’s right and look, these aren’t minor shifts. These are progressive issues that Gavin Newsom used to champion until fairly recently and now he’s not just walking away from them, he’s sort of acting like they were never legitimate with that clip talking about Latinx in the first place.”

The CNN segment showed multiple examples of Newsom using the term publicly, including a January 2023 statement where he criticized Republican lawmakers for targeting the word “Latinx” instead of focusing on “assault rifles.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Newsom used the term in several state press briefings.

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On July 22, 2020, Aug. 3, 2020, and Aug. 10, 2020, the governor referred to the impact of the virus on the “Latinx community” while discussing public health measures and state resources.

Kaczynski highlighted additional uses of the term by Newsom and his office.

“If you look at a few of these [posts] right here, you see there, that is a lot of use of Latinx by him for somebody who said that nobody in his office has ever used that phrase,” he said.

In July 2020, Newsom posted on X, that COVID-19 “disproportionately impacts the Latinx community,” announcing $52 million in funding for testing and contact tracing efforts.

Another post in April 2019 mentioned that 31% of “Latinx” children lived in poverty.

His official X account also used the term in an October 28, 2020, post promoting voter turnout efforts.

The post stated that Newsom had “teamed up with [a] global Latinx superstar” Becky G to encourage Hispanic community members to vote.

The term “Latinx” remains unpopular within the Latino population. According to a Pew Research Center poll released on September 12, 2024, 75% of Latinos who had heard the term said it should not be used to describe them.

Of those familiar with the word, 36% viewed its use as a “bad thing,” while only 12% said it was a “good thing.”

Newsom also appeared to shift his stance on another key cultural issue during his conversation with Kirk.

The governor said that it is unfair for biological males to compete in women’s sports.

However, during his time in office, Newsom signed several pieces of legislation advancing transgender policies, including a 2024 law permitting male athletes who identify as female to participate in girls’ and women’s school sports and to access opposite-sex facilities.

The apparent contradiction between Newsom’s past positions and his recent comments has drawn attention as the California governor continues to navigate national visibility while attempting to appeal to a broader audience.

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