If centrist liberalism were a person, that person would be Gavin Newsom. He talks a big game about about equality and justice, but his actions as governor of California tell a different story.

In June 2020, amid the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, Newsom gave a press conference in which he condemned “the looting” and “the violence,” but also spoke in fiery terms about the need to “tear out the institutional racism from all of our institutions, large and small” as part of a reckoning to “systematically foundationally address the root of these issues.” A few days later, in a speech in Sacramento, he talked about the “achievement gap” in education and economic success between Californians of different racial backgrounds, speaking of the need to “get serious about addressing these disparities.”

His rhetorical emphasis on justice and equality outlasted that summer of nationwide unrest. When he beat back a recall attempt last month, he said in his victory speech that “economic justice, social justice, racial justice” and “environmental justice” had all been “on the ballot” in the race between him and Republican Larry Elder.