Sunny Hostin Blasts Gavin Newsom for Hiding Behind ‘Pretty White Teeth and Cute Face’ in ‘Despicable’ Bannon Chat

The View’s Sunny Hostin blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and his “poor strategy” of starting a podcast where he speaks with conservative figures, most recently Steve Bannon.

During a Thursday discussion on Newsom’s chat with Bannon, Hostin ripped into Newsom, noting that she once thought he was a “leader” for the Democratic Party going into 2028. Hostin does not appear to hold the same opinion today.

She said:

I just think this is a poor strategy for Gavin Newsom. I actually did think that he was one of the leaders that would come out in terms of 2028. I remember watching his annual State of the Union address in California, and he criticized Republicans and he promoted California as an anecdote to the poisonous populism of the right. Now he has a Steve Bannon on the show who’s saying, you know, you’re going to get to populism. There’s a long road. He gives zero pushback there.

Hostin also called out Newsom for not pushing back on his 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories, among other things.

“I’m terribly disappointed. I think you meet energy with energy. He showed his pretty white teeth and cute face and did nothing other than that. And I think it’s despicable,” Hostin said.

Newsom’s This Is Gavin Newsom podcast guests thus far have included MAGA figures like Bannon and Charlie Kirk. The governor received pushback over the Bannon chat, with liberal critics blasting him for “platforming” the once-advisor to President Donald Trump.

Check out the exchange from The View below:

SUNNY HOSTIN: I just think this is a poor strategy for Gavin Newsom. I actually did think that he was one of the leaders that would come out in terms of 2028. I remember watching his annual State of the Union address in California, and he criticized Republicans and he promoted California as an anecdote to the poisonous populism of the right. Now he has a Steve Bannon on the show who’s saying, you know, you’re going to get to populism. There’s a long road. He gives zero pushback there. He gives zero pushback, as Sara pointed out, to really what is a slur against Senator Warren, a sitting senator. He gives a platform and normalizes in my view an election denier and someone who is the person who is behind Project 2025. And I believe that, you know, if you are going to be a public servant, you better be unapologetically authentic because voters can sniff out inauthenticity in a second. And I thought that that was one of the most inauthentic things I have seen Gavin Newsom do.

JOY BEHAR: Wow. You don’t believe in the let them hang themselves theory.

HOSTIN: No. I’m terribly disappointed. I think you meet energy with energy. He showed his pretty white teeth and cute face and did nothing other than that. And I think it’s despicable.

Watch above via ABC.