Gavin Newsom spent five years trying to shut down every church in California.
Now his wife is on tape saying the people who prayed inside those churches are pulling the country backward.
The clip just went viral – and what Jennifer Siebel Newsom said about your faith is worse than the headlines are letting on.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom Resurfaced Video Attacks Evangelical Christians
In a 2022 interview, California's first partner didn't just criticize conservative policy.
She dismissed the entire evangelical community as a cultural obstacle – people trapped in a "silo" whose beliefs America doesn't deserve and won't tolerate.
"They're living in this silo, this evangelical, conservative silo that, ultimately, is just pulling us back as a country to a time and a place where we don't deserve to be, and we're not going to be," Siebel Newsom said.
She added that "young women and fathers of daughters are awake now, and they're woke, and they're not going to let us go back."
Then she said California "has a huge responsibility to lead."
https://twitter.com/ChristianPost/status/2036065428192231701?s=20
The woman who may become America's next first lady went on camera and told tens of millions of Christians that their values are an obstacle – and that California's job is to drag the rest of the country past them.
Between 62% and 65% of Americans identify as Christian – roughly 210 to 220 million people.
Siebel Newsom just told them they're the problem.
Gavin Newsom Fined Churches Over a Million Dollars While His Wife Called Them the Problem
The American Center for Law and Justice called the comments a "radical attack on Christians" and noted the obvious: California has the ACLJ's largest donor base in the country.
Logan Sekulow, the ACLJ's director of media, said Siebel Newsom is "completely out of touch with millions within her own state."
He's right.
But this isn't a one-time slip.
It's the same worldview that drove Gavin Newsom to ban church services in 2020 while letting malls, offices, and restaurants stay open.
https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2034837242251026628?s=20
Newsom classified houses of worship as non-essential.
Churches sued. California ultimately paid over $1.35 million in legal fees after a federal court issued the first statewide permanent injunction against COVID church restrictions in the country.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that California had "openly imposed more stringent regulations on religious institutions than on many businesses" – including businesses where no one was barred from lingering for hours.
Calvary Chapel San Jose was hit with over $1.2 million in fines for holding services without masks.
The ACLJ is now taking that case to the Supreme Court.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom was on camera calling the people targeted by those fines a cultural obstacle.
Same worldview. Different microphone.
What Jennifer Siebel Newsom Just Did to Gavin Newsom's 2028 Presidential Bid
Newsom leads the Democrat primary field. He's spent months playing the moderate game – acknowledging the trans issue is a "barrier" for voters, telling the party to be "more culturally normal."
He's been working to convince working-class Americans he isn't just a San Francisco liberal.
His wife just torched that strategy in a single clip.
Richard Grenell – a gay conservative and former Trump administration official – didn't mince words: "Gavin Newsom's latest wife attacks Evangelical Christians."
The Newsoms are running two different campaigns.
Gavin is softening his edges for the general election. Jennifer is on camera calling your church a drag on the country.
Voters in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan – the states that decide presidential elections – are watching both.
The Newsoms Want the White House and This Is What They Think of Your Church
Jennifer Siebel Newsom didn't call for dialogue.
She didn't acknowledge that millions of faithful Americans hold sincere beliefs rooted in centuries of tradition. She said they're pulling the country somewhere it doesn't deserve to go.
That's not a policy disagreement.
That's contempt.
https://twitter.com/OwenGregorian/status/2031355488726650973?s=20
The same week this clip went viral, she was at a Planned Parenthood bill signing scolding reporters for not focusing on what she wanted covered – telling the press they were enabling a "war on women" by asking the wrong questions.
This is the woman who would be first lady of the United States.
Gavin Newsom told California's churches in 2020 they were non-essential.
His administration fined one congregation over a million dollars for holding services.
Now his wife is on tape saying those same congregations are the reason America can't move forward.
They weren't hiding it.
They were just waiting for you to pay attention.
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Sources:
- Rachel del Guidice, "Newsom's wife says evangelicals are 'pulling us back as a country' in resurfaced clip," Fox News, March 23, 2026.
- Ian M. Giatti, "Calif. Gov. Newsom's wife says Evangelicals 'pulling us back as a country' in resurfaced interview," Christian Post, March 20, 2026.
- Logan Sekulow, "ACLJ Statement on Siebel Newsom Comments," American Center for Law and Justice, March 2026.
- "No More Church Bans: CA Gov. Newsom Ordered to Pay $1.35M in Legal Fees for Shutting Down Churches," CBN News, May 2021.
- "Supreme Court Showdown: ACLJ Challenges Newsom's $1.2 Million COVID Fines Against Church," American Center for Law and Justice.