{"id":2984,"date":"2026-05-26T12:39:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/26\/how-did-jennifer-siebel-newsom-become-a-target-for-conservative-criticism\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T12:39:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:39:46","slug":"how-did-jennifer-siebel-newsom-become-a-target-for-conservative-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2984","title":{"rendered":"How did Jennifer Siebel Newsom become a target for conservative criticism?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1fw0voq\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1j5hrwi\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"6b1a22b6-e5cd-4a91-9bc4-7bf239b52cd6\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks at a microphone beside a 'REAL FOOD for KIDS' podium, with Governor Gavin Newsom behind her\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/0dc0d359bd6d94d7cdbc39d3d034e369a53b39df\/129_0_7255_4608\/master\/7255.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"295.3439007580979\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks on 8 October 2025 in Los Angeles, California. <\/span> Photograph: Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"6b1a22b6-e5cd-4a91-9bc4-7bf239b52cd6\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks on 8 October 2025 in Los Angeles, California. <\/span> Photograph: Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">How did Jennifer Siebel Newsom become a target for conservative criticism?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-cj4vxp\">\n<p>Republicans may be seeking a new line of attack against Gavin Newsom, who has emerged as an early frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:500\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">T<\/span>he next US presidential election is more than two years away but conservative media has wasted no time attacking expected Democratic contenders. In recent months, they\u2019ve turned their attention to Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California\u2019s governor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In early April, the progressive writer and researcher Kyle Tharp <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chaoticera.news\/p\/maga-s-latest-target-gavin-newsom-s-wife\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">noted<\/a> that conservative media and influencers were \u201caggressively resurfacing\u201d old footage of Newsom, a 51-year-old documentary film-maker who has been married to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/gavin-newsom\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Gavin Newsom<\/a> for nearly 18 years. The clips, Tharp said, included \u201crambling, word-salad answers that seem tailor-made to provoke conservative outrage\u201d and made their way from social media to television and radio, leading to a sudden surge in interest in Google search.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe selectively edited clips are being used to portray her as out of touch, \u2018woke\u2019, and elitist, and they have quickly spread like wildfire across the Maga media ecosystem,\u201d he wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chaoticera.news\/p\/maga-s-latest-target-gavin-newsom-s-wife\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Chaotic Era<\/a> newsletter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">High-profile conservatives from Megyn Kelly to Donald Trump Jr shared clips of Siebel Newsom speaking at public events with critical or mocking commentary. A columnist for the California Post, the west coast offshoot of the conservative New York tabloid, wrote that she was \u201csingle-handedly wrecking\u201d Gavin Newsom\u2019s presidential ambitions. Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, described the Newsoms as a \u201cgrifter family\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"1e413f75-2a5b-4ac2-8b49-091d6d92f5c9\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a woman smiling \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e1705547ae967b33d10340c3933c1ae380d36fe3\/0_0_4490_2945\/master\/4490.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"291.8763919821826\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-2\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"1e413f75-2a5b-4ac2-8b49-091d6d92f5c9\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jennifer Siebel Newsom on 14 May 2022 in Los Angeles, California. <\/span> Photograph: Sarah Morris\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist, argues the surge of attacks is not part of an organic outrage cycle, but an effort by Republicans and conservative media to find a new line of attack against Newsom, who has emerged as an early frontrunner among Democrats for the presidential nomination. The attack line, Nellis said, neatly allows Republicans to avoiding having to talk about Americans\u2019 frustrations with the economy and the war in Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cGoing after [Siebel Newsom] is just an extension of them running out of shit to talk about with Gavin,\u201d said Nellis. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to fill airtime, and finding things that the governor\u2019s wife has said is just catnip for them to complain about how Democrats are weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He added, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of airtime to fill, so it\u2019s like \u2026 let me get a piece up about how the governor\u2019s wife is destroying his presidential bid a year and a half before there\u2019s been any voting in the presidential election contest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Conservatives have homed in on Siebel Newsom\u2019s work as a documentary film-maker. She\u2019s produced films focused on masculinity in American culture and the portrayal of women in mainstream media. They\u2019ve sharply criticized her choice to adopt the title \u201cfirst partner\u201d when her husband became governor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">And they\u2019ve railed against her efforts to champion equal pay and gender equity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Families were once considered off-limits in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/us-politics\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">US politics<\/a>, but that\u2019s changed in recent decades, said Debbie Walsh, the director at the Center for American Women and Politics. She pointed to the racist criticisms that Michelle Obama was frequently subjected to while her husband was in politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">All political spouses can now expect scrutiny, Walsh said, but her past work and areas of interest have made Siebel Newsom a particular target of conservatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cShe is somebody who is very outspoken and as a film-maker has made documentary films about issues around gender,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cShe\u2019s very much engaged with these issues and I think it has made her vulnerable because the right and the Maga movement will home in on things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"36c5f302-2f42-4108-8bbc-5a4b3527b6e0\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\">\n<div id=\"img-3\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a woman and a man \" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/11b829ebd1115898b7aa00d2a360484a251728f1\/0_0_3500_2334\/master\/3500.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.75142857142856\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-3\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"36c5f302-2f42-4108-8bbc-5a4b3527b6e0\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel-Newsom in San Francisco on 3 November 2025.<\/span> Photograph: San Francisco Chronicle\/Hearst Newspapers\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect storm of the work she does plus the fact that she\u2019s not being a traditional [political spouse].\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Republicans have particularly latched on to clips of Siebel Newsom discussing gender stereotypes, as well as one of her speaking to prisoners at San Quentin, the large California state prison in the San Francisco Bay Area, about the the death of her eight-year-old sister. In response to the latter clip, Megyn Kelly referred to Siebel Newsom as a \u201cnutcase\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cPart of it is social media. It\u2019s easier for this stuff to spread and you can put out a clip and take someone out of context and blow it up into something,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cThere\u2019s just this universe that will spread this stuff and kind of give it a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The offices of the governor and the first partner did not respond to a request for comment. Mackenzie Smith, a spokesperson for Siebel Newsom, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/05\/06\/jennifer-siebel-newsom-conservative-media-00907218\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Politico<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that the Maga world is once again trying to distract from its own failures by targeting women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIf standing up for women, children, and their futures is considered too radical, that says far more about the state of our public discourse than it does about her values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Most Americans are focused on their frustrations about the economy and the cost of living, and don\u2019t care about the outrage over Siebel Newsom, Nellis argued. But that won\u2019t stop these kinds of attacks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThey\u2019re going to do this to everybody. They\u2019re going to pick apart their lives,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens when you run for president [and] when you ascend to that level.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/gavin-newsom\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Gavin Newsom<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/lifeandstyle\/women\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Women<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/features\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">features<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=How%20did%20Jennifer%20Siebel%20Newsom%20become%20a%20target%20for%20conservative%20criticism?&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/26\/jennifer-siebel-newsom-conservative-criticism?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F26%2Fjennifer-siebel-newsom-conservative-criticism&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/26\/jennifer-siebel-newsom-conservative-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-jwg3xc\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks on 8 October 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Mario Tama\/Getty Images View image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}