Inside the rise of hardship politics as wealthy Democrats eye 2028
Wealthy Democrats eyeing higher political aspirations are leaning into stories of childhood hardship and family trauma as privilege becomes a political liability on the left, according to J.P. De Gance,...
By Fox News · Fox News
Wealthy Democrats eyeing higher political aspirations are leaning into stories of childhood hardship and family trauma as privilege becomes a political liability on the left, according to J.P. De Gance, founder of the nonprofit Communio. "Privilege is one of the worst things you can have within progressive ideology," De Gance told Fox News Digital. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has become one of the clearest examples of that tension, DeGance explained. In his recent memoir and media profiles, Newsom has framed his upbringing as a study in contrasts: elite access through his family’s close ties to the Getty fortune, but also a childhood marked by divorce, dyslexia, financial strain, odd jobs and his mother taking in foster children to help pay the rent. GOV GAVIN NEWSOM: FROM PRIVILEGE TO HEARTBREAK, MY LIFE BEHIND THE HEADLINES "They really were leaning into family trauma, resentment, arguments from their childhood background. These are guys trying to introduce themselves on a national stage and traditionally, you would have a candidate introduce himself by telling you his hardscrabble story and maybe being a busser," he said. De Gance said that kind of personal storytelling could become more common as Democrats with elite backgrounds try to connect with voters shaped by economic strain, family breakdown and addiction – most notably as the nation inches closer to the next presidential election in 2028. A spokesperson for Newsom defended the book as an effort to tell the "complete and unvarnished story" of the governor’s upbringing. "Governor Newsom's book was a chance to tell the complete and unvarnished story about his family and upbringing, which he has repeatedly acknowledged spanned two worlds: one in which his father worked for a family with a great fortune and the other with a ‘rock star’ mom who raised two children and worked multiple jobs," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "He’s not running from any one narrative nor favoring another — this…