Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he won’t run for president if former Vice President Kamala Harris throws her hat in the ring.
“I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see,” Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview released Monday. “But I wouldn’t run if she ran.”
“If she runs, you will not,” a surprised Tapper reacted.
“Of course not. Why would I?” Newsom responded. “I wouldn’t do that to her … I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”
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Tapper, who was fly-fishing with Newsom in Montana during the exchange, appeared confused by the governor’s stance. Newsom suggested spectators would feast on the “mutual-assured destruction” among Democrats competing for the nomination.
“I mean, you do whatever you want. I don’t care,” Tapper told Newsom. “But counterargument would be, like, you know, she had her shot. And you’ve never run, and she’s run twice.”
“Yeah,” Newsom responded. “I mean, that’d be the approach to the campaign, certainly. That’d be the case you’d make. Pretty good one, actually. That’s objectively true.”
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“But I know what that means. I know her base of supporters. I know her friends. The Venn diagram on that is just pure crossover. I wouldn’t do that,” he added.
Newsom’s name has long been discussed as a potential 2028 contender. However, the fellow Californian and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris may have the inside track to remain on the top of the ticket.
Harris holds a double-digit lead over Newsom among Democratic hopefuls by a 24.5-13.5% margin, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Nipping at Newsom’s heels within a five-point margin are former Biden Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.
However, Ocasio-Cortez currently leads the Polymarket betting odds with over 19%, with Ossoff in second place with 16% while Newsom trails with 12.7% and Harris falls even further behind with just 8% odds.
