Gavin Newsom drops F-bomb when Joe Rogan asks whether he regrets major decision while governor

California Governor Gavin Newsom dropped an F-bomb at the mere mention of Joe Rogan before answering a ‘tough’ question from podcast king.

Newsom stunned listeners with a blunt response when asked to address his most controversial pandemic-era policies and dropped during the four-hour long interview on The Shawn Ryan Show. 

Ryan – a former Navy Seal – revealed that he had received a private text message from Rogan prior to the interview to ask Newsom. 

‘Joe Rogan texted me,’ Ryan revealed.

‘Mother f**ker!’ Newsom responded. ‘What did he say? I’m a Joe Rogan fan. He ain’t a fan of mine, but I’m a Joe Rogan fan,’ Newsom insisted. ‘No bulls***! He won’t have me on the show by the way.’

Rogan’s message accused the governor of implementing ‘draconian’ COVID-19 vaccine mandates for children, ignoring risks like myocarditis, and bowing to pharmaceutical interests. 

Rogan, who has long criticized public health messaging, demanded to know whether Newsom ‘felt any remorse’ for what he described as unnecessary and profit-driven policies.

The question, read aloud on the podcast, struck a nerve. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom stunned listeners with a blunt response when asked to address his most controversial pandemic-era policies

The moment came as Newsom sat down for a more than four hour long interview on The Shawn Ryan Show

Ryan revealed that he had received a private text message from Joe Rogan prior to the interview to ask Newsom a question about the pandemic

‘Who will be held accountable for mandating Covid-19 vaccines for children which were unnecessary and ineffective  and who will take responsibility for the unprecedented increases in myocarditis and cancer cases among them?’, Ryan began as he read Rogan’s message. 

‘Second to that, do you feel any remorse for that draconian decision that was obviously heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical company’s desire for maximum profit?’

Newsom didn’t flinch – but he didn’t avoid the question either.

‘I’ve signed some of the most progressive laws against Big Pharma in the country. I have receipts on that.,’ Newsom said firmly. ‘So no one should suggest that it was about doing the bidding of Big Pharma. Quite the contrary.’

Newsom defended his decision-making during the early days of the pandemic noting how California moved quickly alongside red states like Florida and under guidance from Donald Trump’s own administration to implement lockdowns and other measures.

‘There wasn’t a Democratic governor in America that worked closer during the pandemic than I did with Donald Trump,’ Newsom said, reflecting on the chaos and uncertainty that defined the initial response to Covid-19.

Rather than offer a flat apology, Newsom said he has recently launched an in-depth, state-sponsored investigation into California’s handling of the pandemic. 

Newsom says the process will be the most comprehensive and ‘objective’ postmortem in the country.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is shown above, left, sitting with ten others in the indoor/outdoor dining room at The French Laundry on November 6, 2020 without a mask

During the podcast, Newsom admited heading to the French Laundry restaurant during the pandemic was one of the ‘biggest boneheaded decisions’ he’d made

During the early part of the pandemic California issued a statewide mandate to close beaches

‘With humility, seriously, humility and grace, I’ve asked them to have that report done,’ he said. ‘It’ll be the only state that I know of that is putting out a truly objective review of what went right and what went wrong.’

The governor acknowledged that mistakes were made, particularly with early policies that were driven by fear and misinformation. Among the regrets Newsom says shutting down beaches and other outdoor spaces was a mistake.

‘What the hell were we doing shutting down the beaches and open areas?’ he asked. ‘We were sitting there wiping down everything in the house with Purell.’

Still, Newsom stood by the science behind vaccinations, especially when it came to preventing mass deaths.

‘Vaccines save lives. Period. Full stop,’ he said. ‘And I’m just not going to engage in the kind of revisionist history that pretends otherwise.’

In a particularly candid moment of the lengthy interview, Newsom said he regretted heading to trendy restaurant French Laundry for dinner during the pandemic despite there being strict rules on indoor dining and the number of people allowed to gather.

‘I despise me for the  French Laundry. I was wrong. I went to this damn restaurant. That’s the rules for thee and not for me,’ Newsom said. 

‘I’m going to indict myself here. Biggest boneheaded damn decision I made. Now, it was a restaurant that was open but it was against the spirit of what I was saying which is that you shouldn’t have large dinners with large groups of people as we did. 

‘And I went to a damn birthday party and I paid a price – and I own it. You know, I’m not perfect, man. You know, I beat the s*** out of myself for that. And everyone who criticized me is goddamn right. And I own that.’

Under Newsom’s leadership, California became one of the most aggressive states in its pandemic response – mandating remote work, issuing sweeping mask orders, and imposing the first statewide stay-at-home directive in the nation in March 2020. 

The state leaned into digital infrastructure, which allowed many industries to adapt through remote work. 

Newsom is seen receiving his Covid vaccine by Johnson & Johnson in April 2022

Its sunny climate and car-centric culture also allowed for more outdoor activities than in densely packed cities on the East Coast.

But the costs were steep as tens of thousands of small businesses shuttered permanently. Public schools remained closed longer than in many other states. 

Critics hammered Newsom for what they called inconsistent and sometimes hypocritical rules, citing his now-infamous dinner at the upscale French Laundry restaurant while indoor gatherings were banned.

Despite the criticism, Newsom pushed back on the idea that states like Florida had done better.

‘Florida shut down bars and restaurants before California. Florida had worse educational outcomes during COVID than California,’ he said, citing reading and math scores. 

‘They had more per capita deaths than California. Their GDP contracted more than California’s. On three key areas, education, health, and wealth, California outperformed.’

He dismissed what he called ‘myth-making’ around Florida’s record and claimed that the ‘California derangement syndrome’ had become a media obsession.

Newsom also voiced concern about the country’s preparedness for future pandemics, warning that political division and distrust have left the US vulnerable.

People defy the ‘stay at home’ order issued by California Governor Gavin Newson by riding their bikes along Huntington Beach, California in March 2020

A parking lot next to Santa Monica beach, with Santa Monica pier in the distance, is seen mostly empty after Newson’s announcement to close beaches and state parks in March 2020

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is deserted as shops close, people stay at home and tourism grinds to a halt as people stay at home during the first few weeks of the pandemic

‘We’re going to have another one of these damn things,’ he said. ‘And we’re totally unprepared because we’re so distrustful of everybody.’

Rather than treat the pandemic as political hindsight, Newsom said California’s upcoming report will aim to break partisan narratives.

‘We’re interviewing people that vehemently disagreed with us,’ he explained. ‘People who opposed the mask mandates. People who opposed the stay-at-home orders. International experts. We’re stress-testing our entire process.’

That process, he said, began years ago at a summit in Sunnylands, where California convened global health experts to begin gathering data on how it handled COVID across its 58 counties – each with different levels of density, infrastructure, and risk.

While the final verdict on California’s performance will be up to historians and voters, Newsom had a clear message.

‘Everyone’s a goddamn genius now in hindsight,’ he said. ‘But at the time, none of us knew what we were up against – including the president of the United States.’