California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has played the role of loyal surrogate ever since Joe Biden’s disastrous debate defeat. “We have to defend this president,” Newsom told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner in the spin room after the Atlanta debate. “We’re not going to turn our backs on him after one performance. Where is that political party?”
Newsom campaigned for Biden in Michigan, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania last week. “I believe in this guy,” Newsom said. Said President of Michigan: “I believe in his character. I believe he’s been one of the most transformative presidents of our lifetime.”
While Newsom maintains he supports Biden’s continued candidacy, his tactics and political record suggest he is optimistic about his chances of winning the Democratic nomination.
It’s no surprise that Newsom has strong desires to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee: all he cares about is power.
Newsom should continue to support Biden to be in a good position to compete for the Democratic nomination. If Biden resigns and Jill Biden relinquishes power, gaining the president’s support will be key to winning the nomination. Biden, a proud man known for avoiding criticism, is unlikely to endorse a candidate who was not on his side until the very end.
Newsom’s tactics continue a strategy he’s used for the past two years: denying he has any intention of replacing Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election while doing all he can to position himself for the opportunity.
For example, last year Newsom touted his vision of total progressivism across the country, touring Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi. At New College in Florida, media asked if this national outreach meant he would seek the presidency in 2024, which Newsom denied.
To tell“I want to have that moment, to be able to look my kids in the eyes and say I did everything I could and put everything I had on the field.”
Newsom has made his presidential ambitions clear through tours of Republican states, debates with then-candidate Ron DeSantis, appearances on Fox News, a nationally focused super PAC, international tours and a proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution.
Few believe Newsom’s claim that he is not seeking the presidency. In November 2023, when asked if Newsom wanted to run for president, his political godfather, Willie Brown, said:
He said“Anyone who has met him can answer this question with the simple answer: He already wants to be president.” – The New York Times Reported last year “We’re staying on the sidelines just in case Biden decides not to run in 2024,” Newsom said.
For a while, Newsom’s national efforts angered the Biden campaign.
Election officials Newsom hadn’t fully warded off speculation that he would challenge the president for the presidential nomination. After repeatedly denying his presidential ambitions and endorsing the president (by campaigning, fundraising, and endorsing him on cable news), he finally earned the Biden campaign’s trust and became Biden’s top surrogate, a role that culminated when he was dispatched to Atlanta as the president’s top defender in the debate spin room. This put Newsom in the running as the Biden campaign publicly fizzled.
This moment of Democratic panic over Biden’s age isn’t just something Newsom has been waiting for for the past two years: it’s the culmination of his lifelong ambition.
As I detail in my book,
Unleashing Newsom: The Progressive’s Unbridled Lust for PowerThroughout his political career, Newsom has shown that all he cares about is getting to the next rung on the political ladder.
He has been open about his ambitions from the beginning: In 1998, while he was an unopposed member of the San Francisco City Council, he said, “If you want to be in politics and have an impact, you should be as successful as possible. And the most influential position is the presidency.”
As Newsom prepared to run for mayor of San Francisco, he was so focused on his campaign that he neglected to spend time with his dying mother, who called to tell him she had decided to end her life through assisted suicide.
He was very busy Her call was diverted to voicemail.
After taking office as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom neglected the day-to-day running of the city in order to better position himself for the gubernatorial election, a move that drew backlash from his progressive colleagues. San Francisco City Councilman Aaron Peskin said:
He told the Los Angeles Times“Part of the mayor’s role is to be a star. … He’s certainly fulfilled that role — the glamour, the reputation of the city as a first-class city in the minds of tourists and residents. … He hasn’t been very successful in staying in power as a chief executive and holding department heads accountable.”
As lieutenant governor, Newsom focused more on climbing the political ladder than governing. Asked during a taping of “The Gavin Newsom Show” how much time he spent in Sacramento, he said, “Maybe one day a week at most.” “There’s no reason,” he said, complaining that elected office is “just boring.” He then sighed and added, “The sad thing is, I just, um, God.”
A month into his second term as lieutenant governor, Newsom announced he was forming an exploratory committee to run for governor. Newsom’s desire to field an alternative to Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee is not surprising: All he cares about is power.
The question that remains is whether Newsom’s efforts to ingratiate himself with the Biden team and position himself nationally will be enough to win the nomination against a slew of candidates of the Democrats’ preferred gender and race if Biden leaves office.
