Jennifer Siebel Newsom Sought To Redefine The Role Of First Spouse. Now, She Faces Her Biggest Test

Jennifer Siebel Newsom was frustrated.

She was opinionated down her husband, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, astatine a February press conference to observe a caller bill that would springiness Planned Parenthood emergency funds. A throng of women’s advocates, including herself, had spoken astir really nan rule would thief women entree healthcare. But now reporters were asking a barrage of off-topic questions, from nan California High Speed Rail to nan 2028 Olympics.

She paced, she swayed, she laughed pinch displeasure. Finally, she stepped person to her hubby and mildly nudged him aside. She recovered it “incredulous,” she said, that they had assembled each these friends only for nan reporters to inquire astir different issues.

“This happens complete and complete and complete and complete again,” she said arsenic Newsom smiled awkwardly. “You wonderment why we person specified a horrific warfare connected women successful this state and that these guys are getting distant pinch it. Because you don’t look to care. So I conscionable connection that pinch love.”

All of a sudden, Siebel Newsom herself was nan news. One of Sacramento’s apical female journalists, Ashley Zavala, shot backmost connected X that reporters were conscionable doing their jobs and nan measurement they were treated “was not normal.” Right-wing media blasted retired headlines from “Gavin Newsom’s woman scolds reporters” to “Gavin Newsom’s woman slams reporters for ‘horrific warfare connected women’ successful bonzer rant.”

The segment underscores Siebel Newsom’s predicament arsenic her hubby positions himself arsenic Trump’s main antagonist and prepares for a imaginable 2028 White House run.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom pinch California Surgeon General Diana Ramos.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

She came to Sacramento pinch a ngo to speak up for women, calling herself “first partner” to awesome she would transportation connected nan taxable of her activity arsenic a documentary filmmaker and nonprofit leader: dismantling gender norms. But arsenic her hubby raises his nationalist floor plan pinch a podcast, a memoir and regular trolling of President Trump, she finds herself nether mounting scrutiny.

In June, Newsom accused Trump of weaponizing nan Department of Justice to motorboat a politically motivated attack connected his spouse aft national agents knocked connected nan doors of nan Newsoms’ friends and erstwhile employees, asking astir Siebel Newsom’s taxes and nonprofit businesses.

“To get me, he’s coming aft my wife,” Newsom said.

A national root said nan investigation began not pinch Trump, but aft national officials said to whistleblowers successful Sacramento. Whatever nan root aliases merits of nan probe, Siebel Newsom has agelong faced questions astir her finances — specifically her nonprofits’ partial reliance connected donations from companies that lobby nan governor, a strategy that does not break California rule but raises concerns astir nan power of ample corporations successful Sacramento.

Her determination to usage nan title “first partner” and her activity “deconstructing” gender are besides attracting disapproval from nan correct successful nan post-#MeToo era arsenic galore Americans chafe against what they comprehend arsenic extremist attempts to undermine accepted values and policing of what they opportunity and do.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks connected astatine his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

(Mario Tama / Getty Images)

To Siebel Newsom, nan critiques of her activity and nan national probe are portion of a broader hounding of women who participate nan nationalist sphere. When national agents targeted her associates, she was promoting “Miss Representation: Rise Up,” her caller movie examining nan domiciled exertion plays successful fueling what she describes arsenic “the rising backlash against women’s progress.”

“We are seeing young women clasp themselves backmost from wanting to prosecute careers … not conscionable governmental leadership, and it’s highly disturbing,” Siebel Newsom told CNN successful June. “It is simply a backlash, a backslide, and it is happening astatine an unprecedented scale, wherever yet we are silencing women’s voices.”

She disagreed pinch those who opportunity scrutiny is nan value of admittance for being successful nationalist life. “Women and girls merit to beryllium protected,” she said. “Anyone aspiring to a nationalist work profession deserves to beryllium safe. It should beryllium fundamental.”

Untangling morganatic governmental disapproval from profoundly ingrained gender bias is not easy. Women successful nan nationalist oculus are often held to a different modular than men. But immoderate governmental experts mobility whether a female who refuses to guidelines connected nan sidelines — raising her sound connected radioactive civilization warfare issues and benefiting successful portion from her marital position to money her nonprofits — tin reasonably expect to beryllium excluded from nan unsmooth and tumble of her husband’s governmental life.

Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University rule professor and governmental commentator, said Siebel Newsom had been subjected to heightened nationalist scrutiny for years. “That I deliberation is apt fair,” she said, “in nan consciousness that she has said that she’s very overmuch a partner of nan governor, and she has utilized this level to advocator for causes that she cares about.”

Still, Levinson said, Siebel Newsom’s availing herself of nan nationalist forum did not mean she had violated nan law.

“Does nan truth that she has created and tally nonprofits that person behested contributions from Gov. Newsom put her and her actions successful a different spotlight?” she said. “Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean that she’s doing thing nefarious. It conscionable intends that their life and their finances and their jobs are a small spot much analyzable than different first families.”

Raised successful an able suburb successful Marin County, Siebel Newsom, 52, grew up successful privilege. Her begetter was an finance head and salient GOP donor, her mother a co-founder of nan Bay Area Discovery Museum.

After studying Latin American studies astatine Stanford and volunteering successful Ecuador and Africa, she returned to Stanford to gain an MBA. Then she moved to L.A. to effort to break into Hollywood. She sewage mini parts successful “Mad Men” and “Rent,” but has said she “was typecast arsenic a trophy woman and benignant of put into this box.”

That sparked her liking successful getting down nan camera.

Around nan clip she married Newsom successful 2008 and sewage pregnant pinch her first child, she began activity connected “Miss Representation,” her debut 2011 movie that examines really mainstream civilization limits female imaginable and powerfulness by focusing connected youth, beauty and sexuality.

When Newsom was elected governor, she announced she would eschew nan accepted title of “first lady.”

The “first partner” title, she has said, is not conscionable gender inclusive and gender expansive. “It disrupts immoderate of nan male-coded connection we subordinate pinch leadership, versus a ‘lady’ who sits connected nan sidelines.”

Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Over nan past 15 years, Siebel Newsom has worked connected a bid of documentaries and founded nonprofits focused connected gender equity, the Representation Project and California Partners Project.

“She walks nan walk,” said Amy Ziering, a documentary filmmaker whose films Siebel Newsom helped produce. She did not return nan domiciled lightly, Ziering said, noting she watched cuts and took notes, made introductions and brought group to screenings. The truth that Siebel Newsom kept pressing women’s issues arsenic her hubby became governor, Ziering said, reflected her integrity.

“She’s not diminishing her beliefs, her values, her principles aliases immoderate different benignant of semipermanent goals” Ziering said. “She shows up, ‘This is what I believe,’ and possibly it’s not politically useful to judge this correct now, aliases to opportunity ‘I judge it’ … but she does.”

In 2022, Siebel Newsom took connected different nationalist role, testifying successful Harvey Weinstein’s intersexual battle trial.

“She did not person to do that, she could person been Jane Doe,” Ziering said. “That’s astir showing up for different women and for each intersexual battle survivors.”

Cristina Garcia, a erstwhile assemblywoman who represented southeast L.A. and worked pinch Siebel Newsom connected women’s legislation, said she thought Siebel Newsom would beryllium a target nary matter what.

“But I deliberation she sees nan powerfulness that she has, and it’s like, why should she conscionable beryllium successful nan background?” Garcia said. “Why shouldn’t she usage her powerfulness to uplift women and children ... these things she’s been really passionate about?”

In Sacramento and crossed wide California, Siebel Newsom’s ideas connected women and gender are comparatively mainstream.

But arsenic nan 2028 predetermination looms, conservatives person dredged up aged clips, highlighting Siebel Newsom’s comments astir parenting and deconstructing gender roles to represent her arsenic “radical” and “woke.”

In 1 video, Siebel Newsom said that erstwhile she sounds to her children she changes nan protagonist’s gender from “he” to “she” to show women matter and tin halfway a story.

In another, she raised concerns astir boys being exposed to “alt-right socialization online that we cognize is very, very dangerous.” She and her husband, she noted, were alarmed to find their boy had encountered misogynist influencer Andrew Tate while watching sports online.

Some conservatives person noted, pinch glee, that Siebel Newsom could beryllium a liability for her hubby arsenic he seeks nationalist office.

“Jennifer Siebel Newsom is nan very avatar of Democrat Woman,” a New York Post columnist wrote. “Haughty, hectoring and pleased pinch herself, she is single-handedly wrecking her hen-pecked hubby Gavin’s lofty governmental ambitions.”

But erstwhile authorities Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Oxnard) pushed backmost connected nan thought that Siebel Newsom was immoderate benignant of strident activistic aliases woke scold. After moving pinch Siebel Newsom connected adjacent salary and bringing much women onto firm boards, she said Siebel Newsom was adept astatine moving pinch corporations to find communal crushed and admit what businesses request to beryllium successful.

The scrutiny of Siebel Newsom comes arsenic her hubby tries to liking retired a much centrist stance connected immoderate issues.

Last year, Newsom inspired nan ire of immoderate Democrats by launching a podcast successful which he chatted pinch right-wing figures, specified arsenic Turning Point USA laminitis Charlie Kirk and Trump’s erstwhile main strategist Steve Bannon. On its debut episode, Newsom distanced himself from his party’s near flank, calling nan dismantling of constabulary departments “lunacy.” Allowing transgender athletes to participate successful women’s sports, he said, was “deeply unfair.”

Asked why, Newsom told The Times his statement had go retired of touch pinch mean Americans. “They deliberation we’re elite,” he said. “We talk down to people. We talk past people. They deliberation we conscionable deliberation we’re smarter than different people, that we’re truthful judgmental and afloat of ourselves.”

On this point, it’s not clear whether nan Newsoms are successful sync.

For each her talk of women arsenic allies, Siebel Newsom portrays blimpish women who knock different women arsenic dupes manipulated by MAGA leaders.

“What’s absorbing is that nan acold correct really is utilizing women to spell aft different women,” she said successful June connected nan “Hysteria” podcast. “So I find it very intentional connected their portion that they person fundamentally sent nan women retired to humiliate, demean, ridicule, mock, soundlessness different women. But that’s conscionable nan patriarchy, right? ... And that’s what we person to fight.”

Still, she has voiced uncertainty astir whether she would proceed to spell by “first partner” if her hubby were elected president.

Asked successful 2023, Siebel Newsom said she didn’t cognize if Americans were fresh for a “first partner.”

“Sadly,” she said, “I don’t cognize if they are.”

But moreover arsenic conservatives mock Siebel Newsom’s patrician “girl power” connection and activistic jargon, she shows fewer signs of backing down.

As she has taken “Miss Representation: Rise Up” to movie festivals successful New York and Washington, D.C., she has upped her telephone for much Big Tech regulation.

An advisor from nan first partner’s agency said Siebel Newsom had been an advocator for women and girls earlier she met Newsom. That was improbable to change, they said, arsenic she faced increasing right-wing scrutiny aliases a national investigation.

“There’s nary strategy alteration here,” they said.