Gavin Newsom called it "deeply unfair" and then did absolutely nothing.
That admission – the one he made on his own podcast in March, while auditioning for a 2028 presidential run – just became the centerpiece of the most damaging political attack against him in California's wide-open governor's race.
And the man swinging that weapon is Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco – who just explained, in devastating detail, exactly how those two words follow Newsom all the way to the end of his career.
Newsom Called Trans Athletes in Girls Sports Deeply Unfair Then Did Nothing
Bianco didn't need opposition research for this one.
Newsom said it himself – "deeply unfair" – and then spent the next year watching California girls get pushed off podiums, forced to share locker rooms with males, and threatened by classmates for speaking up.
Hadeel Hazameh, a student at Jurupa Valley High School, graduated early to escape the hallways where her own teammates turned on her after she filed a lawsuit over a biological male competing on her volleyball team.
"People are very disrespectful," Hazameh told Fox News Digital. "I'm pretty sure someone almost told me to die."
Newsom's response? His office blamed the legislature and insisted his hands were tied.
Bianco called it what it is.
"Every time he opens his mouth he's not telling the truth," Bianco told Fox News Digital. "The reality is the governor is the top executive officer in this entire state, and he sets the rules."
"That's the governor lying to push the blame onto somebody else because he doesn't want to be held responsible for what's happening in our schools and our girls, because he wants to be president."
The Title IX Lawsuit That Put 44 Billion in California School Funding at Risk
Attorney General Pam Bondi filed the DOJ lawsuit against California in July – leading with Newsom's own podcast admission.
"The Governor of California has previously admitted that it is 'deeply unfair' to force women and girls to compete with men and boys in competitive sports," Bondi said. "But not only is it 'deeply unfair,' it is also illegal under federal law."
That lawsuit now puts $44.3 billion in federal education funding at risk.
Bianco said the fix is simple: comply with Trump's mandate and the DOJ lawsuit goes away.
The girls filing individual lawsuits against school districts across Riverside County deserve more than a settlement, according to Bianco.
"Some have been seriously injured, and some were just emotionally traumatized," he said. "The schools should be paying for that. The state government should be paying for that. They were deeply wronged."
Chad Bianco Leads California Governor 2026 Race as Democrats Split the Vote
The latest Emerson College poll released February 14 shows Bianco tied at 14% with Democrat Eric Swalwell – with Republican primary voters backing Bianco over Steve Hilton 37% to 38%.
It's the closest a Republican has come to the California governorship since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011.
Democrats are privately terrified about vote-splitting – their crowded field of eight candidates could allow two Republicans to finish first and second in the jungle primary, locking Democrats out of the November runoff entirely.
"Two Republicans have been ahead in the polls for the last six months," Bianco said at the California Democratic Party convention this weekend. "Democrat policy is indefensible."
He's right.
Newsom spent eight years building a presidential brand on California's progressive leadership – and now his own words on trans athletes are being read back to him in a federal lawsuit while girls in his state graduate early to escape the consequences of his inaction.
Bianco says he'll use funding threats to force school compliance, compensate the girls who were harmed, and hold accountable the employees who enabled it.
California Republicans haven't cracked the governor's mansion since Schwarzenegger left in 2011 – not because the state is hopeless, but because they never had a candidate who could weaponize Democratic failure this precisely.
Bianco can. And Newsom handed him the bullets.
Sources:
- Jackson Thompson, "Chad Bianco reveals his California sports vision: Saving the LA Olympics and trans athlete crisis consequences," Fox News, February 24, 2026.
- "DOJ sues California over transgender athlete policies," ABC News, July 9, 2025.
- "Justice Department sues California over transgender athlete policies," NBC News, July 10, 2025.
- "California school board votes to ban trans athletes from girls' sports," Fox News, August 14, 2025.
- "California 2026 Poll: Hilton, Swalwell, Bianco Lead Nonpartisan Primary for Governor," Emerson College Polling, February 19, 2026.
- "Bianco says 'Democrat policy is indefensible' as GOP candidates top California governor polling," Fox News, February 22, 2026.
- "New details emerge about California high school trans athlete saga," Fox News/WFMD, February 2026.