In an interview on CNN’s The Axe Files podcast with David Axelrod, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said his ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle was a "different person" when they were married. He suggested she "fell prey" to right-wing disinformation campaigns on Fox News.
Newsom said Guilfoyle, who was working as a prosecutor in San Francisco when they got married, allowed the culture of Fox News to color her ambitious and prideful nature when she joined the network to host The Lineup in 2006.
Although The Lineup was eventually cancelled, Guilfoyle remained a regular contributor for the network. In 2011 she was picked as co-host of The Five and later Outnumbered.
Guilfoyle worked as a host on the show until 2018, when she left in the midst of a year-long investigation of a sexual harassment accusation against her—one of many at the Fox News network.
Guilfoyle began dating Donald Trump Jr. in 2018, marking a sharp rightward turn in both her personal life and her politics. The two became engaged in December 2020, though the news was not made public until January 2022.
Audio of Newsom's podcast remarks is below.
\u201cHard to imagine but @GavinNewsom, gov of CA & progressive stalwart, was once married to @kimguilfoyle, who is, today, a MAGA zealot & @DonaldJTrumpJr fianc\u00e9. "She was a different person...She fell prey to the culture of Fox," Newsom says on #AxeFiles.\nPod\ud83d\udc49https://t.co/b0wQEb0AdN\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
Reflecting on his relationship with Guilfoyle, Newsom said:
"She was a different person. She’s whip smart, and she fell prey, I think, to the culture at Fox in a deep way."
"She would disagree with that assessment. She’d perhaps suggest she found the light.”
Newsom joked, “Well, I’m very busy," when asked if he'd been invited to Guilfoyle's wedding to Trump Jr.
Many couldn't help but concur with Newsom's assessment or comment on Guilfoyle's political transformation.
\u201cIt's hard to imagine today but I do remember when Gavin Newsom was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle. She was always so kind. She's emblematic of what happens when you get #FoxPox\n\n#VoteBIGblue #ProudBlue\n\nhttps://t.co/kF9F3XMHvy\u201d— Zero30 (@Zero30) 1676471376
\u201cThis is what happens when you becomes filled with hate, lies and grifts \u2066@kimguilfoyle\u2069 ... there was a time she actually looked human. But not just a big caricature https://t.co/JWFRNrb1CZ\u201d— Tracey Schwartz (@Tracey Schwartz) 1676475977
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr Not only did Kim fall prey to Fox but she also thought she didn't look good anymore and really butchered her face with plastic surgery. There is something very wrong there.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr There\u2019s a slew of ppl that once were considered to be some what reputable until they arrived at FoxPropaganda & completely went off the rails. @MariaBartiromo @HowardKurtz @TulsiGabbard @BillHemmer @GeraldoRivera @TuckerCarlson @FoxWallace1 @greta @TheJuanWilliams to name a few.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr She may have been different in some ways but she was always a greedy social climber\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr No matter, Gov Newsom moved onto a much better life, happily married and beautiful children. She\u2019s no longer relevant.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr I've NEVER understood that duo once the connection was made. Prey to the culture of Fox? I doubt that. Prey to the supposed and ill-gotten money connected to that family, perhaps. Maybe she just prefers FL to CA. Whatever the reason Newsom's so much better off without that mouth.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
\u201c@davidaxelrod @GavinNewsom @kimguilfoyle @DonaldJTrumpJr I can say the same of a good hunk of the people I grew up with. They were once moderate folks. Mind blowing really.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1676215832
Guilfoyle has not commented on Newsom's remarks.
After leaving Fox News, Guilfoyle joined the pro-Trump super PAC America First Policies to campaign for Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections.
She served as a Trump surrogate and adviser on the campaign trail in 2018 and 2020, embracing election conspiracies furthered by her soon-to-be father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, during the latter election.
She is reportedly not popular with the Trumps, and a 2019 profile of Ivanka Trump in The Atlantic revealed that Guilfoyle was not invited to a family Thanksgiving dinner and that the elder Trump had openly commented on her attractiveness.
