The 2028 podcast primary is underway for Democrats

From Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, potential presidential contenders are following the lead of President Donald Trump, who frequently went on podcasts appealing to younger men during his 2024 campaign.

Liberal strategists acknowledge Trump showed that Democratic candidates need to master the podcast space, which is typically looser and more freewheeling than a news conference or a traditional media interview.

“The way that politicians communicate and need to be seen by their audience is changing,” said Liz Minnella, who fundraised for 2024 Democratic nominee then-Vice President Kamala Harris and this year launched Connect Forward, a group to support liberal influencers. “I hate to give him credit, but he found a way to connect with people, talk to them like human beings in non-political speak.”

Launching “The Andy Beshear Podcast” earlier this year, the Kentucky governor hosted a donor, a former ambassador, businessmen he calls friends and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

The lower-profile Democrat in a red state even brought on his two teenaged children, asking them to explain to him how to use slang terms like “skibidi” to say something looks good, or “doing it for the plot” to say you’ll be taking a risk on something despite a potentially bad outcome.

From his first episode, the 47-year-old politician outlines some rules and says the first is “be authentic, you be you, boo.”

The governor did not respond to a request for comment on his strategy, but mostly took a position of dissecting and broadcasting opposition to Trump’s policies, such as potential cuts to Medicaid and the use of the Signal messaging app by the president’s national security team to discuss sensitive military operations.

In one of Beshear’s recent episodes, his producer asks the governor a frequent listener’s question: Will you run for president?

“If it were three years ago, this was something that we would have never thought about,” Beshear said, sitting beside his wife, Britainy. “But I’m committed to not leaving a broken country to my kids or anyone else’s. Now, what that looks like going forward, I don’t know. My job right now is to try to lift up as many leaders as possible all across the country that are hopefully focused on the right things with the right message to re-earn the faith of the American people.”

Whitmer recently appeared on “Pod Save America” for a shorter interview than other contenders did on podcasts. Whitmer received some backlash for sharing a hug with the president last month as he arrived in her home state, less than a month after she shielded her face from cameras during an Oval Office appearance alongside Trump.

Whitmer and Trump announced a new fighter jet mission at a National Guard base outside Detroit that is seen as a major economic driver for the area.

“It doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned any of my values. It doesn’t mean that I’m not going to stand my ground and fight where we have to, but this is one of those moments where as a public servant you’re reminded your job is to put service above self and that’s what it was all about.”

In February, California’s governor launched “This is Gavin Newsom” as a mechanism for talking “directly with people I disagree with, people I look up to, and you — the listeners.”

Thus far, he’s had a wide array of guests, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, as well as Klobuchar and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ 2024 running mate.

The conversations mostly were chummy. Newsom — who in recent weeks broken with California’s legislature and faced liberal criticism for his positioning on transgender issues, immigration and homelessness — fielded backlash for giving a platform to some of his party’s biggest critics.

Long derided by conservatives as a San Francisco liberal, Newsom also drew criticism for opposing the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.

The diverse guest list could be part of Newsom’s attempt to self-brand as a centrist ahead of a possible 2028 run, hearing out conservative critics while trying to assume his party’s mantle.

Buttigieg’s appearance on Andrew Schulz’s “Flagrant” podcast came months after the comedian sat down with Trump.

During his three-hour sit-down with Schulz, Buttigieg talked candidly about his personal life, describing his experiences serving in the military before he came out publicly as gay and raising his biracial children, even laughing as Schulz and other hosts cracked jokes related to homosexuality or asked pointed questions about his personal life.

Mostly, Buttigieg discussed his time in politics and accused Trump of failing to deliver on economic promises from the 2024 campaign.

“We have to be encountering people who don’t think like us and don’t view the world the way we do, both in order to actually, legitimately, become smarter and better and make better choices and have better positions, and just in order to persuade,” Buttigieg said.