Gavin Newsom on Biden, Harris and his own presidential run. Here’s what he told ‘Meet the Press’
Vice President Kamala Harris — not Gavin Newsom — is “naturally the one lined up” to succeed President Joe Biden, Newsom told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The California governor has been the subject of widespread speculation that if Biden does not run next year, he’s positioning himself to step in. If Biden does run, as he is actively doing, Newsom is seen as getting ready for a 2028 bid for the White House.
Harris, who came up through California politics at the same time as Newsom, would presumably begin that race as a frontrunner. If Harris ran, Newsom said, he’s not going to run against her.
“Won’t happen,” he said.
In the interview recorded inside the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Sacramento and scheduled to air Sunday morning, moderator Chuck Todd asked the governor if Biden doesn’t run this year, “Why shouldn’t we consider you a likely candidate?” NBC provided an excerpted transcript of the broadcast on Friday.
Newsom answered that Harris is the next in line, “and the filing deadlines are quickly coming to pass and I think we need to move past this notion that he’s not going to run.
“President Biden is going to run, and (I’m) looking forward to getting him re-elected,” the governor said.
But what about the calls from many Democrats that Newsom run next year? He’s set up a campaign finance mechanism that would make it easy for him to launch and fund a bid, and has traveled the country in recent months to introduce himself to more moderate Democratic voters.
“Time to move on. Let’s go,” he said, dismissing the idea of a 2024 run. Newsom has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for president next year.
So, Todd asked, “Am I supposed to interpret that comment about the vice president that if for some reason the president chose not to run at this point ... everybody rallies around her?”
“It’s the Biden-Harris administration. ... 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,” he said.
Newsom served two terms as lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019 under Gov. Jerry Brown.
Newsom vs. Harris?
Could he ever imagine running against Harris, whose political career has in many ways parallelled his? She won statewide elections in 2010 and 2014 as attorney general and a U.S. Senate seat in 2018. Newsom has won four statewide elections and survived a 2021 recall attempt.
Asked if he could imagine running against Harris, Newsom said, “Of course not. By definition. Won’t happen.”
He and Harris have their political roots in San Francisco. He was mayor and she was the district attorney.
“We knew each other before we were both in politics. The day I got sworn in as mayor, walked across the street, she got sworn in as district attorney. Extraordinarily close working relationship, including her time in the Senate, my time up here,” he said.
“We privately continue to maintain a very good relationship, interpersonal. Just, ‘How are you doing? Checking in.’ It’s been a challenging few years with COVID. And we’ve had the opportunity to sit down, have lunch together in the White House, spend time talking about important things,” he said.
There was some talk that Harris’ office was upset at the idea that Newsom hopes to debate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s seeking the Republican presidential nomination. NBC News reported last month that advisers to Biden and Harris were not happy about the debate.
Asked if Harris was upset, he said, “Maybe. Apparently someone in her office is, because I read some off-the-record quotes. I wish I knew who that was. But I don’t hear it from her so — and I’m certainly not hearing it from the White House itself.”
Newsom said the debate was still on. “There was a venue issue. They wanted thousands of people and make it a performance. I wasn’t interested in that,” he said. But “I think we’re getting closer.”
On Feinstein, Robert Kennedy, Covid
Newsom also discussed these topics:
▪ Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Newsom, who holds the ailing 90-year-old senator in deep regard, hopes she can finish her term.
He has said any replacement would be a Black woman, and he stuck by that Sunday. But he suggested it would not be someone currently seeking Feinstein’s seat next year. One of them is Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who is Black.
“It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that,” the governor said.
▪ Covid restrictions. California had tough restrictions during the pandemic, and Republicans have continued to fire away at what they saw as a too-aggressive lockdowns and rules.
“You go through a process across the spectrum in terms of being prepared, issues related to how we fundamentally address the distribution of vaccines, and the prioritization. You want to talk about prioritizations early on in terms of those vaccines,” Newsom said.
“You go through a series of things, and there’s so many things we could’ve done differently,” he said, without getting specific.
▪ Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Kennedy was an inspiration to him for his environmental advocacy, Newsom said, and “I revere his family broadly.”
But “then he loses me on many others, including some personal shots he took around vaccines…”
Newsom said that while “I wish him only the best, and I mean that. I have great respect for him, and his kids, and his wife. But boy, his politics have shifted and I just don’t buy it. “
“Meet the Press” airs Sunday in the Sacramento area on KCRA at 6 a.m. Check your local listings for air times in other markets.
This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 7:57 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom on Biden, Harris and his own presidential run. Here’s what he told ‘Meet the Press’."
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