California Gov. Gavin Newsom put speculation to rest that he might jump into the race for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination amid Joe Biden’s sputtering campaign. Biden should be well ahead of Donald Trump in the polls; however, he is not.
Newsom told NBC’s Chuck Todd that it’s time for the press to stop speculating that Biden will drop out of the race.
“I think we need to move past this notion that he’s not going to run,” Newsom told the “Meet the Press” host, adding that he looks forward to Biden’s second term. “I think there’s been so much wallowing in the last few months, and handwringing in this respect … But we’re gearing up for the campaign. We’re looking forward to it.”
He had raised speculation about running due to his visits to Republican strongholds such as Florida, Montana, and Utah.
Californians Not Keen on Newsom Running
Polling taken earlier this year found that most Californians did not support the idea of Newsom seeking the presidency next year. A Quinnipiac poll conducted in March found that 70% of Californians did not want their governor to run. Only 35% of Democrats want Newsom to run for president, and 54% flat out do not.
“A resounding thumbs down from the home team as California voters tell the Governor: if you have designs on the big job beyond Sacramento, we’re not on board,” Quinnipiac poll analyst Tim Mallory wrote.
Newsom’s governorship has seen an exodus of Californians from the state. Homelessness has spiked by 67% from 2020 to 2022 in the state due to a lack of affordable housing.
In Newsom’s home city of San Francisco crime has become so bad that Nordstrom closed its 312,000-square-foot store due to rising crime and lower foot traffic.
Newsom and DeSantis to Debate
He and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have agreed to debate each other on Sean Hannity’s program on Fox News at an undetermined date in what could be a preview for 2028. Rumors suggest that unnamed advisers to Vice President Kamala Harris were unhappy with the idea.
“I wish I knew who that was,” he said. “But I don’t hear it from her … and I’m certainly not hearing it from the White House itself.”
Newsom: Kamala is Biden’s Successor
Newsom insists that Harris, a fellow Californian, would be the person to jump into the top position on the ticket should Joe Biden decide he cannot run due to health reasons or unpopularity.
“I think the vice president is naturally the one lined up’ to run after Biden, he said, noting ‘maybe I’m a little old-fashioned about, you know, presidents and vice presidents. I was a lieutenant governor, so I’m a little subjective,” Newsom said.
He told NBC News that he has a positive close working relationship with Harris. Asked if he would run against her if she was the Democratic Party candidate, Newsom said, “Of course not. By definition. Won’t happen. But we’ve – I’ve said that 1,000 times.”
“We’ve had the opportunity to sit down, have lunch together in the White House, spend time talking about important things,” Newsom said.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst 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.
