Palling around with CNN’s Jake Tapper, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) addressed how his plans for 2028 supposedly hinged on the choice of another Oval Office seeker.
Little more than two months out, the midterm elections may be front of mind for many, but speculation on the next presidential election remains something of a constant. With his own tenure overseeing the tarnishing of the once-Golden State drawing to a close, Newsom suggested plans for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would be nixed if former Vice President Kamala Harris officially runs.
Setting aside the performative fly fishing — though many had comments for form, attire, proximity and more — the interview from a Montana river running through the property of Newsom’s in-laws’ ranch featured the outgoing executive suggesting doubts about the twice-failed Harris going for a trifecta in White House bids before explaining why he wouldn’t challenge her.
“I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see,” he told Tapper as he addressed an overlapped base. “First of all, electorally, it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They’d enjoy the hell out of it. Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good.”
(Video Credit: CNN)
“I know her base of supporters. I know her friends. The zen [sic] diagram on that is just pure crossover,” said Newsom, fumbling a reference to Harris’ beloved Venn diagrams. “I wouldn’t do that to people.”
When the CNN anchor brought up the vice president’s previous failures, the governor agreed, “That’s objectively true.”
Also admitted in the interview, reportedly filmed a month ago, was Newsom’s own insistence that he “wasn’t ready” to run in 2024 and that he “would’ve gotten crushed” by then-President Joe Biden because he “didn’t have a ‘why.'”
“If you don’t have a big enough why, then you don’t belong there,” said the executive who, in November 2023, appeared to have sunk his own political future in a debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) where his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, reportedly stepped in to wave the white flag and prevent any further embarrassment.
Newsom’s recent posturing seemed to some to be another attempt at avoiding public humiliation, with former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt among others, suggesting “Sparkle Beach Ken is looking for his ‘graceful’ exit plan now that it’s obvious Newsom would get rekt if he ran.”
Sparkle Beach Ken is looking for his “graceful” exit plan now that it’s obvious Newsom would get rekt if he ran. https://t.co/bJqD2BmSPs
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) September 14, 2026
This has real Tim Walz hunting vibes pic.twitter.com/KarXRsPzGP
— miklaus. (@miklaus_eth) September 14, 2026
— Rocky Tyson (@TysonRockyLu) September 15, 2026
Newsom seeing Kamala Harris double his polling numbers and deciding to sit out the 2028 primary isn’t loyalty, it’s dodging a blowout loss.
— Maria Mel (@Mariamelx58) September 15, 2026
Likewise, in the wake of the revelations of the Fauci Diaries, and despite Tapper’s own assertion that he pitched the same casual-style interview to Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and outgoing North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) — the latter of whom agreed — commentator Stephen L. Miller was among those who weren’t going to let the journalist off the hook for an appearance of bias: “Jake Tapper being friendly and casual with Democratic Party politicians — An ongoing series.”
Jake Tapper being friendly and casual
with Democratic Party politicians – An ongoing series. https://t.co/qOCOGSz7ia— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 14, 2026
Wow Jake having dinner with Fauci during covid after telling people not to have intimate gatherings. Now he is hanging with Newscom. Jake is not even trying to hide that he is a left-wing lunatic. Maybe Jake will wait a year and write about how fooled he was about Fauci. That…
— alison brackett (@alisonbractn2v) September 15, 2026
So much for impartial reporters huh 🤔
— Mr PoPo (@Mrpopohs) September 15, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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