California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been asked many times if he plans to run for president. For months, that answer has been an emphatic “no.” But this weekend, Newsom sounded a little less certain of his stance on the matter.
“You may be termed out here but does cleaning up the streets of California factor into a potential presidential run?” “60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Newsom, in an interview that aired on Sunday.
Vega was referring to the new policies that Newsom is implementing in a bid to reduce California’s homelessness rate.
Newsom was elected governor of California in 2018. He was re-elected for his second and final term in 2022. He is set to leave office in January 2027.
“I’m never going to overpromise that in the short run. I mean, we are struggling in this state. Housing, and homelessness,” Newsom replied.
“Is that a yes or a no?” Vega pressed Newsom again, later in the interview.
“That was a — that was a never-ending response to your question,” Newsom said.
This isn’t the first time Newsom has been asked about his presidential ambitions. His answer has changed over time.
In September 2022, Newsom insisted, when asked at the Texas Tribune Festival, that he doesn’t plan to run for president in 2024.
“No, no, not happening, no, no, no, not at all,” Newsom said, later citing the recall election he survived in 2021.
“I’ve said it in French, Italian. I don’t know German. I mean, I cannot say it enough,” Newsom added. “But thank you. It’s humbling. It is sweet. It’s a nice thing to be asked. I mean it, and I never trust politicians, so I get why you keep asking.”
Newsom won his 2021 recall election in California with over 60% of the vote.
Rumblings about a possible Newsom run are coming at an interesting moment in the Democratic Party.
President Joe Biden is now facing off against the current GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, but Biden’s win might not be a slam-dunk, per a slate of recent polls.
That said, Newsom has been supportive of Biden.
Newsom told Politico, in a story published last November, that he’d informed the White House that he would be supporting Biden’s reelection bid.
“He not only beat Trump once, I think he can beat him again,” Newsom told Politico then, whilst referencing Biden’s chances.
Representatives for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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