Gavin Newsom is perhaps the most unapologetic contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. That said, even he has his dealbreakers.
The California governor revealed in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that there’s one candidate who would definitely tank his prospects for the White House: Kamala Harris.
“I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see,” Newsom, 58, told Tapper, while holding a fishing pole and standing knee-deep in water. When Tapper noted that Harris, a fellow California politician, had been “calling around,” Newsom conceded: “I wouldn’t run if she ran.”
He added: “I wouldn’t do that to her; I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”
“What do you mean?,” a seemingly bewildered Tapper replied. “That doesn’t even make sense to me.”
Newsom went on to call it “mutually assured destruction.”
The two California Democrats—sworn in on the same day two decades ago—have had a rocky relationship, despite showing a united front in their early days in San Francisco politics under the same mentor, Golden State superstar Willie Brown.
In July, a former staffer who had an affair with Newsom when he was the mayor of San Francisco said that the “best advice” she received at the time was from Harris.
“I tell her people are urging me to speak publicly,” Ruby Rippey, 54, wrote for Vanity Fair. “She listens, then says simply: ‘I wouldn’t say anything right now, Ruby. Just pause. More time will give you better perspective,’” she went on, calling it “the best advice” she received.
In December, The New York Times reported that the 2024 presidential candidate clammed up when asked whether she signed off on a “President Newsom.”
“He has to make that decision if he wants to [run] first,” Harris, 61, said.
Meanwhile, Newsom has coaxed several Harris alumni into his camp, including her former chief of staff, consulting firm, and campaign manager, the Times reported.
Harris aired more dirty laundry in her memoir, 107 Days, which chronicled her short-lived 2024 presidential campaign. In it, she revealed that Newsom never returned her call on the day former President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
“Hiking. Will call back,” he texted at the time. He later endorsed her as the Democratic nominee.
Newsom said in October during a video game stream that he reached out to ask why she included that anecdote in the book. Harris shot back: “On book tour. Get back to you later.”
