Questions about President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities and Vice President Kamala Harris’ competency have some in the media speculating that California Gov. Gavin Newsom could replace either one on the Democrats’ 2024 ticket.
He stands in contrast with Biden who struggles with the press. Newsom’s admirers include Biden’s likely presidential rival former President Donald Trump, and Newsom has repaid the favor.
“You have a very ambitious guy in California, but he’s done a terrible job with the state,” Trump said of Newsom, who was elected in 2018, won a recall election in September 2021, and secured a second term last fall, during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “I used to get along great with him, you know when I was president. Got along really good.
Trump continued: “He was always very nice to me. Said the greatest things. He would say things like, ‘He’s doing a great job.’”
Newsom similarly told Sean Hannity that he had a great relationship with Trump when he was president.
The former president told Carlson that he held his fire on Newsom because they had a strong and friendly relationship. The California governor has said he similarly respects Trump in contrast with most people in Newsom’s party.
Newsom Gets in the Ring With Conservative Media
Unlike many Democrats, Newsom is not opposed to sparring with his critics in the conservative media.
Newsom recently appeared on Hannity’s program on Fox News to defend the Biden administration’s jobs record. Hannity found himself dumbfounded by Newsom’s articulate, polished answers.
He claimed that Democratic-run states subsidize Republican-run states.
“This is on its way to becoming the fourth-largest economy in the world. What are you arguing for? Mississippi’s economic policy?” Newsom asked in response to Hannity’s claim that Democrat economic policies were harming the nation. “Literally, that’s what you’re arguing for. The great Sam Brownback’s Kansas policy? It was a debacle, no economic growth. Seventy-one percent of the GDP in America are [in] blue counties, progressive policies. Seventy-one percent of the country’s wealth. Seven of the top 10 dependent states are your states. We’re subsidizing your states, Sean, because of your policies.”
Hannity claimed that Tesla was leaving California due to the state’s higher corporate income tax.
An estimate by the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, a think tank that historically leans Democratic, found that counties that voted for Biden accounted for 71 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Gavin Newsom Looks to Red State America
Newsom has given the appearance that he hopes to earn bipartisan support. He’s traveled in Republican strongholds such as Montana, Idaho, and Utah. His office denies that he’s looking to replace Biden or Harris, saying he’s out stumping for LGBQT rights and against “MAGA” Republicans.
Polling shows Newsom beating both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Without offending the powers that be in the Democratic Party, it is clear that Mr. Newsom is positioning himself to be the Democrats’ alternative to the declining 80-year-old commander in chief,” Washington Times columnist Adam Brandon wrote. “Mr. Newsom is a young, charismatic politician who brings a fresh face to the party and has the ability to reenergize the Democratic base. The California governor also has a solid donor base and is good at raising money, an ability most politicians lack.
Brandon continued: “Mr. Newsom has shown that he is not afraid of the media and is willing to confront those who may not necessarily align with his political beliefs.
John Rossomando is a senior analyst for Defense Policy and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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