California’s Gavin Newsom seems to have been running for president for months, today he made it a little bit more official
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” the two-term Democrat told CBS Sunday Morning’s Robert Costa’s of what he giving ‘serious thought” to a White House bid. “I’d just be lying, and I’m not — I can’t do that,” Newsom added in a pre-taped interview aired today.
“Fate will determine that,” the 58-year-old politician declared of if 2028 would really be his shot.
However, testing the waters in Red States for months and taking swings at Donald Trump on every platform available, Newsom had the caveat that he was not going to make up mind about 2028 until the 2026 midterms were over. After that vote, which could see the Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives, and, less likely, the Senate – it’s game on.
“I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment, and that’s the question for the American people” Hollywood Newsom said of fellow Democrats seeking the big job, which could include fellow Californian and former VP Kamala Harris, who was the unsuccessful 2024 candidate.
To that, the term -imited governor who will leave office in Sacramento after the midterms, also warns that Trump’s second terms and a currently unconstitutional third term hangs in the balance in next year’s vote.
“His presidency, de facto, ends next November, if we’re successful …his presidency is over, de facto as we know it today, fire and fury signifying maybe something. But finally, you have rebalanced this system,” Newsom told the Bari Weiss run CBS News.
“If you have a speaker Johnson, we may have a third term of President Trump.”
Having fought Trump most of this year on a variety of fronts, Newsom has put a lot of his own political capital on the line with California’s redistricting measure Proposition 50. The only thing on the ballot for next month’s election in the Golden State, the Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed Prop 50 would temporarily alter California’s congressional districts to favor Democrats. Looking likely to pass, the move is a response to Trump desired gerrymandering efforts in Red States like Texas to ensure a GOP majority in Congress in 2026 by eliminating Democrat majority districts.
Once noted for his own efforts to have a detente of sorts with the authoratarion Trump in his first term and the early weeks of his return to power, Newsom now calls the former Apprentice host “an invasive species for California, for the country, for the world.”
Pointing to last week’s sudden demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make space for Trump’s $300 million corporate donor supported new ballroom, the Governor said POTUS is “a wrecking ball, not just the symbolism and substance of the East Wing. He’s wrecking alliances, truth, trust, tradition, institutions.”
Of course, the timing of today’s interview, as Trump this weekend struts on the world stage at a summit in Asia is intended to send a message to the spotlight craving White House.
Also, in terms of timing, the October 23 taping of the sit-down with Newsom came just before Trump announced he was reversing course on sending troops into San Francisco like he had LA earlier this past summer. The presence of Marines and National Guard in the City of Angels led to months of eventually successful court challenges from Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as state legislation to ban ICE agents and other law enforcement from being masked and unidentified.
As for that potential next step in his own political battles, Newsom said in his opinion any candidate for the presidency needs “a compelling why” – a possibly missive across the bow of any fellow Democrats thinking about throwing their own hats in the ring.
“I think the biggest challenge for anyone who runs for any office is people see right through you,” Newsom noted to CBS Sunday Morning. “If you don’t have that, why you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”
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