California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris launches another campaign for the role.
Speaking to CNN anchor Jake Tapper, Newsom said, “I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see. I wouldn’t run if she ran.”
“Why would I?” he explained. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. … I won’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”
Newsom said of his decision, “First of all, electorally it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They’d enjoy the [removed] out of it. Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good. Why would I do this if I wasn’t trying to serve some greater good? There would be no upside whatsoever.”
Discussing Harris’ failed presidential bids, Newsom said, “That would be the case you’d make,” he acknowledged. “Pretty good one, actually. That’s objectively true. 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 to people. I wouldn’t put them in that position … Every other Democrat is praying for that, and every other Republican is gonna pray for that. And that’s just not gonna happen.”
Newsom told Tapper that some Democrats voiced desires for him to have run for president in 2024. “I wasn’t ready,” he said. “First of all, I wouldn’t do that. And second, if I did, I would have gotten crushed because I didn’t have a why. You don’t have big enough why, then you don’t belong there.”
Earlier this year, Newsom spent millions in a campaign to improve the state’s image. The ad campaign coincided with reports that the governor may have been looking to boost his own public image ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
