Gavin Newsom’s latest podcast spin — a tearful tale about a “rough upbringing” and a single mother doing whatever it took — was served up to a friendly audience and immediately smelled like political theater to anyone paying attention. Megyn Kelly and guests on her show recently tore into that narrative, pointing out the obvious disconnect between his sob story and the comfortable world he actually grew into.

The truth is less glamorous than Newsom’s script: his father, William Newsom, was a well-positioned judge with long-standing professional ties to the Getty family, and those elite connections didn’t evaporate when Gavin was handing out sob stories. Conservatives aren’t attacking struggles; we’re calling out manufactured authenticity used to paper over privilege and buy sympathy.

That privileged pipeline explains how PlumpJack, the business empire he used to bootstrap his career, got off the ground — not from grit alone but from heavy-pocketed investors who saw a well-connected protégé. The Gettys and other establishment backers poured money into Newsom’s ventures, which makes his “I hustled to pay rent” narrative at best selective and at worst deliberately misleading.

Now Governor Newsom is packaging himself as a podcast-friendly, pop-culture-savvy figure, courting former athletes and viral hosts to seem relatable to middle America while he presides over a state in decline. His new podcast and media blitz are clearly about national branding and testing the waters for higher office — not honest conversations about the real consequences of his policies.

We’ve heard parts of this story before: Newsom’s biography contains real complexity, including learning challenges he’s discussed publicly, but complexity isn’t the same as inventing or exaggerating hardship to score political points. Voters deserve straight talk and accountability, not a retooled origin myth designed to distract from failing schools, skyrocketing homelessness, and sky-high taxes in California.

Americans who work for a living should be skeptical when elites recast themselves as victims while cashing in on connections. It’s time to stop the performance politics and demand honesty from would-be national leaders; conservatives will keep pressing the record player to make sure the real history — not the polished campaign soundbite — is what people hear.