Gov Gavin Newsom reveals to Bill Maher how he worked 'behind the scenes’ to resolve WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: California Governor Gavin Newsom defended his mostly behind-the-scenes role during the prolonged actors and writers strike last year on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher'.

In his first show of 2024, Maher questioned Governor Newsom about his approach to resolving the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Maher suggested that Newsom could have used "jawboning" to encourage both sides to reach a resolution sooner.

Newsom's behind-the-scenes efforts in navigating labor dispute

Maher proposed that Newsom could have intervened by telling the parties involved, "Why couldn’t the governor say, ‘This is an important industry in our state, one of our most important'."

"You knuckleheads are gonna find a number that you agree on at some point, it always happens. Instead of putting these people out of work for all these months and all the suffering and heartache, can we just get it done today?'” the host asked.

Newsom responded, saying, “Well, we did all of that except the knucklehead part was expressed on multiple occasions, down here on many, many occasions.”

He explained that these efforts involved "not only meeting with both sides, meeting with individuals, phone calls, text messages, emails, working behind the scenes, national groups, state groups".

"So it is all part of the art of the possible in the deal, in the context of not showing your cards and showing a bias upfront, so you can be constructive behind the scenes when both parties call you when you are needed. … Sometimes you are more public, sometimes it is done behind the scenes," the Governor added.

Maher probes Newsom on presidential speculation and ideological clashes

Later in the interview, Maher brought up Newsom's ongoing political battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

This clash unfolded in November when the two state leaders engaged in a debate on Fox News, moderated by Sean Hannity.

Despite continued speculation about Newsom as a potential presidential candidate, Maher acknowledged, "I’m not going to even go there."

While praising Newsom during the interview and recognizing the persistent inquiries about a presidential run, Maher mentioned Newsom's repeated statements about focusing on supporting the re-election of Joe Biden.

Nevertheless, wild speculation persists, suggesting Newsom might step in if President Biden were to drop out of the race.

However, Maher expressed his desire to avoid a civil war and conveyed to Newsom, "You seem like you purposely want to set up this dichotomy between, ‘Oh, this is a blue state and that is a red state.’ And I don’t want to live in that. I like Florida."

Newsom agreed with Maher's sentiment, stating that he also likes Florida but emphasized that he wasn't willing to "sit back and watch" attempts to revert the country to a pre-1960s era.

Newsom expressed concerns about a rollback of voting rights, LGBTQ rights, and women's rights, encompassing issues beyond just access to abortion but also contraception.