California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he will not run for president in 2028 if former vice president Kamala Harris seeks the office again.
“Of course not. Why would I?” Newsom told CNN’s Jake Tapper in a clip released Monday. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
The governor said it would be a “waste of everyone’s time” for him to pursue a presidential bid if Harris did again.
Neither of the pair, who share deep roots in California politics, have explicitly said they will launch a 2028 run, but both have indicated they are considering it. In the new video, Newsom said having them both in the primary field would be “mutual assured destruction,” citing their overlapping political bases and circles.
“The [Venn] diagram on that is just pure crossover,” Newsom said while fly-fishing with Tapper in an interview that is set to air in full Tuesday.
The remarks appear to be the first time that Newsom, widely viewed as a top-tier Democratic contender for 2028, has directly said he would not stand in Harris’s way if she wanted to go after the presidency once more.
Newsom made the same vow ahead of the 2024 race, as pressure for President Joe Biden to drop out intensified and some speculated that the California governor might be interested in replacing him. Newsom was quick to endorse Harris, throwing his support behind her before she was even elevated to the top of the ticket.
Her loss in the general election to Donald Trump devastated Democrats, many of whom now say the party needs a new direction. But Harris would enter any race with high name recognition and the chance to orchestrate a campaign on a full timeline that she did not have in 2024.
Newsom has been among more than a dozen high-profile leaders to court speculation that he will stage a run.
“You have to feel like you can stand on that stage with what, 30?” he said in the new interview, adding shortly after there could be “31 flavors” of Democrats eyeing the White House.
Newsom and Harris were rising stars of California’s political universe for decades, never circling too far from each other. Both of their careers centered on San Francisco, where Newsom served as mayor before seeking a governor’s office role, and Harris was a prosecutor and district attorney before she became the California attorney general.
Another Californian, Rep. Ro Khanna (D), is also considering a 2028 run. Other potential Democratic contenders include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Jon Ossoff (Georgia) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York).
Newsom has generated considerable interest, especially in 2025, for his willingness to mock and confront Trump.
“You gotta be honest with yourself,” Newsom told Tapper in the new clip. “Do you represent the zeitgeist of the moment?”
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