Why is Gavin Newsom playing #FortniteFriday with a guy called ConnorEatsPants?
Every Friday ConnorEatsPants plays #FortniteFriday with a celebrity of some sort, but my alerts rarely ring as loudly as they did today, and with good reason. At 2:30 PM PT/5:30 PM ET on Friday, October 3, California Governor Gavin Newsome joins Connor on the Battle Bus.
UPDATE, OCTOBER 4, 2025: This article was updated with more details on Newsom’s livestream. -CMJ
OCTOBER 3, 2025: Connor announced on his channel yesterday that today his special guest is California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Do your kids watch ConnorEatsPantsLive? On his latest channel, Connor he invites celebrities to play #FortniteFriday while he casually asks questions. Notable recent guests include George Santos, ‘Adrian Ditmann,‘ and now Gavin Newsom.
They play Fortnite together and Connor gently interviews the guest at first. Although he prefers to let the questions come organically, Connor will probes deeper if he doesn’t think the they’re answering directly. He also asks as many questions from his loyal chat members as possible.
Yes, he was confirmed by Connor on Thursday, October 2nd, and although they started late, jumped right into conversation and battle. Connor admitted to be really amazed that Newsom’s team reached out, but admitted in a preview livestream to his fans that there’s no way to please everybody with these interviews, so please don’t expect them to talk about everything.
On Sora and AI and legislating it: Newsome updates on his team’s plans to legislate it (SB 53). Connor is concerned we have no guardrails on it. Newsom tells us about the first AI bill signed in the country a few days ago “It does a little; not enough,” he admits.
He makes a point to bring up “the godmother of AI” Fei-Fei Li who worked with them on the bill, and I’d say that she deserves a deep dive. Let me know if you want to hear from her.
On Fortnite and their concerts: When bemoaning his lack of levels (and Snoop skin), he lets us know that if he was playing on his kid’s account then he’d be “at like, level 97.” He’s been watching the concerts since they started in 2020: “It’s amazing to me; it’s really cool how companies are integrating brands, businesses–how culture how it’s changing culture and society. I’m fascinated by it. It’s an important space.”
OnSpeaker of the House Mike Johnson: “He and I are not on the best of terms.”
“I do like how you at least clap into these guys….I think you get under their skin a bit,” Connor said on the trolling posts his team’s been putting out in the last few weeks.
“When you put up a mirror to how ridiculous it is that the President of the United States is putting out all these all-capped Truth Social posts, racist posts and putting these AI-generated videos, I think it’s just important to call that out and so we’re punching, and we’re punching back hard,” is how Newsom explains his new communications approach.
“Focus on what the hell’s going on with young folks”
Connor asked what Newsom thinks of Kamala Harris’s campaign, and this is where Newsom tap dances more than other areas. The streamer host doesn’t think they pulled away from the Biden Administration enough on policies, and they get into an honest discussion on the optics of who’s making a difference in our lives.
When bringing up Hamas and the promise to release hostages, Newsom appeared a touch taken aback at how knowledgeable Connor is about world affairs. The host raised the idea of a unified Israel where everyone has equal rights; Newsom returns to defense of the two state solution. Listen at 21:33 to hear their discussion.
On JD Vance: “He’s the guy everyone needs to watch.”
Do you think Jared Kushner is going to do a good job?
Both expressed some concern over Kushner being part of the TikTok deal and the investors in EA Games. Connor doesn’t see the difference between that deal and general capitalistic societies. “I don’t think it will innovate. I think it will just get more expensive games, and more bad games,” was Connor’s estimation.
Newsom on the right wing control of mainstream media: “We’re getting crushed on podcasts, we’re getting crushed on cable networks and so we’ve gotta break these siloes.”
Even organically getting to questions, Connor asked Newsom pretty directly about his comments on trans kids playing sports. Newsom pleaded his personal and professional advocacy for LGBTQ+ populations, specifying that this is just one point is one where he isn’t sure.
Connor explains how that one point about trans athletes playing sports is such a small percentage, that by Newsom using that example he is demeaning the argument for their civil rights. The governor considered and didn’t refute Connor’s point, which is backed up by data the NCAA President Charlie Baker used in 2004 to testify before Congress. Out of 510,000, Baker had testified under oath, said, fewer than ten athletes are transgender.
“The whole thing, just breaks my heart, because these people just want to survive,” Newsom lets out. They both calmly shared their points-of-view and listened to the other one, although Newsom heavily leaned into his record. “I’m sorry that people feel [abandoned], I really do.”
screenshot from ConnorEatsPantsLive
“I hope it wakes people up to how they’re being manipulated and used by a lot of these media folks, and how they stress test the information that they gather and they get it from different sources.”
-Gov. Gavin Newsom on the GOP not releasing the Epstein Files
The chat is saying you have to talk about SB79
Connor has a very involved and active chat, and I loved that enough of them got this question about housing legislation into the stream. They didn’t get into detail, but here is more on the bill.
Why Does This Matter to My Family?
Parents/Caregivers, I encourage you to ask if your child watches ConnorEatsPants, or has every watched/heard of Fortnite Friday. Certainly Connor does some of these interviews for humor, but it’s clear that many of his questions to guests are genuine, and may surprise you. You can gain insight into not only what your children might be watching and how gamers often circulate their views during streams, but some of Connor’s questions could align with your child’s.
#FortniteFriday could be a gateway for you to learn how to talk to your own kids about such topics, or watch some together and open up dialogues. His content is PG13 at minimum, so I would start with pre-reviewed clips.
Parents, myself included, can easily slide into a tone of voice that sounds predestined. We might know that this discussion will end with them turning off their video game, for instance, but don’t begin the conversation that way. It can feel and be a two-way dialogue so they feel like they can open up to you. There are elements of how Connor asks his questions that could enlighten grown ups, and show us ways of communicating with our children in language they understand.
What are your questions about this? Have you ever heard of Connor’s streams?
“Josh Hawley Clashes With NCAA President Over Transgender Inclusion Guidelines For Women’s Sports,” Forbes Breaking News, 17 December 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdXvJupbX_4
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