Gavin Newsom’s Awkward Marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle

In 2001, Gavin Newsom wed Kimberly Guilfoyle, and she was gorgeous. When she accompanied him to events during his mayoral campaign (which she rarely did; she didn’t have much time for him, even when they were together), she drew eyes with her beauty and up-to-date fashion. Someone over at USA Today put together a slideshow this week of all the Getty Images of Newsom and Guilfoyle. They look happy and in love, and it absolutely makes sense that a man who was catapulted to the national spotlight as the star young mayor of San Francisco would be married to her. Her makeup is impeccable, and she looks cute and sweet, sophisticated and feminine.

She looked nothing like she does now, with overdone Botox and plastic surgery dominating her face. One imagines that, had the now former ambassador to Greece not embraced lip injections so enthusiastically, today she would have been a very beautiful 57-year-old woman.

As things are, everyone seems to have the same sentiment: “Can you believe Gavin Newsom was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle?” Their politics could not possibly be further apart, with Guilfoyle being (until a few days ago) a die-hard MAGA loyalist with the Mar-a-Lago look, and Newsom being the Democrats’ leading opponent to Trump. Her bombastic personality, affinity for nightlife, focus on wealth, obsession with designer clothes, and allegations of corruption seem far removed from the neat and blonde Jennifer Siebel Newsom in her Marin County manor (though she, of course, has numerous of her own scandals, including a federal investigation). (RELATED: Gavin Newsom’s Extremely Odd Wife)

And yet, as I explain in my book, Newsom Unleashed: The Progressive Lust for Unbridled Power, it was really Guilfoyle who left a saddened Newsom. Guilfoyle was getting plentiful opportunities in television in New York and D.C., and she essentially up and left her husband in order to focus on her road to stardom. Newsom joked in one interview that at least he still got to see her on TV. “That’s at least 10 percent as good as being there,” he said. In another interview, this time for the San Francisco Chronicle, he rationalized her decision to basically move out of their house, saying, “You could never deny someone their bliss, their great, you know, passion.” The headline for that article read: “Gavin Newsom adores his wife who’s never home and he’s OK with that, mostly.” That article sounds as far removed from today’s reality as possible when Newsom pipes up about his wife: “One of my favorite subjects!” In a different world in which she did not virtually abandon him, perhaps they would still be together. (Though maybe not; multiple people I spoke with for my book told me that they felt she was a person of low character when she was still with Newsom.)

Friday in the Daily Beast, Jami Floyd wrote about her past friendship with Guilfoyle and the reason Guilfoyle gave for leaving her husband. While riding in a car together, Guilfoyle summarily “announced her intention to leave Gavin.” Guilfoyle’s explanation? “There is only room for one big ego in any marriage.”

Today, Kimberly Guilfoyle has fallen from grace about as much as is possible. A three-part exposé from the Wall Street Journal alleged, with plentiful evidence, that she granted extreme access to an energy lobbyist and did much to help his company, pushed a Trump donor to wire her $100,000 in exchange for her influencing the administration on his behalf, and boasted about how Greek businessmen were bankrolling her travel, among other misbehavior. The Hill’s Robby Soave called her actions “nakedly corrupt.”

Trump fired her from her ambassadorship via his new (and now former) press secretary without even informing her first. After firing her, Trump denied that she had ever been part of his family and downplayed her long-term relationship with his son, Don Jr., saying that she “dated my son a long time ago.” (She was engaged to Don Jr. two years ago, and they owned a house together until three months ago.)

Guilfoyle’s position as ambassador was itself a fall from grace. She was assigned to the role the day after then-fiancé Don Jr. was seen holding hands with model Bettina Anderson at a Palm Beach restaurant. Sending her off to Greece got her out of the way.

Guilfoyle is looked down upon by the mainstream media with about as much derision as is possible. For them, she is a living caricature of a corrupt, morally bankrupt MAGA woman. This is awkward for Gavin Newsom’s soon-to-be-announced presidential bid. Her place in the headlines as a scandalous, contemptible woman will no doubt invite questions about his judgment in marrying her.

It will be interesting to watch the liberal media reconcile their adoration for Newsom with their absolute derision for the woman he once loved. Maybe Newsom will have to explain his marriage to her constantly during his bid for the White House.

Ellie Gardey Holmes is the author of Newsom Unleashed: The Progressive Lust for Unbridled Power.

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