In summary
Governor Gavin Newsom insisted that he had no interest in presenting himself to the presidency, despite creeping speculation. Now he publicly recognizes that this is a possibility.
Prepare, America. After years of rejection of farms, Governor Gavin Newsom finally recognizes his presidential ambitions.
During the last month, the Democratic Governor who insisted once on the fact that he had “an interest below zero” for the White House began to head publicly towards the idea. In a profile Posted in the Wall Street Journal This week, Newsom said he would wait to see if the moment was going well.
“I don’t think about running, but this is a path that I could see going,” he said.
The change of tone comes, perhaps incidentally, because all eyes are again on Newsom.
President Donald Trump sending military troops to Los Angeles in recent days to sometimes repress unruly protests against immigration application raids, Newsom has seized the moment Repeat as the head of the Resistance. The governor continued to stop deployments and now made almost endless tricks in the media accusing Trump to slip into authoritarianism. He sent daily questions to his fundraising list referring to the situation in Los Angeles and The president advocates his arrest.
Tuesday evening, Newsom gave a Short video addressLive live on CNN, which sought to raise its struggle for a national meaning, warning that “the other states are the next” and to rally the public behind it to defend democracy.
“This is all of us. This is you,” said Newsom. “It’s time for all of us to get up.”
Many people already assume that Newsom is in campaign mode. A Survey published last month Through the Institute of Government Studies of UC Berkeley and Los Angeles Times noted that more than half of Californian voters think that Newsom is more focused on strengthening its presidential prospects than to governing the state and solving its problems.
But the ability to extend your message beyond California could arouse voters from the rest of the country to start seeing Newsom as a potential leader, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Politics Center.
He congratulated Newsom for channeling the growing fear and anger in the face of Trump’s actions in his remarks, which, according to Sabato, may have changed the minds of certain skeptics who considered the governor as “another pol with a good hair gel”.
“He saw the danger for the American Republic,” said Sabato. “It was a home run.”
Although speculation about a future presidential offer followed Newsom throughout his career – his family even joked in a Congratulations message In his college directory – he would never admit that he had his eye on the White House a few years ago.
After defeating a recall attempt in 2021, Newsom told Chuck Todd de NBC in an interview that he had “never” planned to come to the presidency and had “no, no, no, no” to do it because “who needs fucking stress?”
During Approval interview With the San Francisco Chronicle during his re -election campaign for the governor of California the following year, Newsom said he had “subzeed the interest” of being commander -in -chief and that “it is not even on my radar”. He reiterated to CBS that “it’s not my ambition” and “I have no interest” to run.
The question has returned several times Last summer as a frantic Democrats, considered replacing the opportunity to replace President Joe Biden on the ticket, and Newsom has always beaten him, emerging as perhaps Biden the most powerful substitution until the bitter end.
The Newsom star has increased in recent years
The question of whether these proclamations were sincere is, of course, another question.
Newsom’s political star exploded with his early manipulation of the coronavirus pandemic, and he has spent the years for years browning his national profile – Turn the red states to Campaign for his democratic colleagues,, Propose a constitutional amendment To restrict the possession of firearms, Debate the Florida Republican Governor, Ron Desantis, On Fox News, Launch of a controversial generator podcast. The recent book “Fight: inside the craziest battle for the White House“Reported that Newsom was among the eminent democrats who contacted campaign agents last summer to explore their chances if Biden abandoned.
Newsom representatives did not answer questions about the reasons why he talks differently about a potential presidential campaign and if this represents an intentional strategy. But the switch has been notable and consistent in recent weeks.
In early May, Newsom said the video podcast Then, with Mark Halperin that his decision was “to be determined”.
“I could. I don’t know, “he said. “But I must have a burning” why “and I must have a convincing vision that distinguishes me from anyone. Without that, without both and, I do not even deserve to be in the conversation. ”
On own podcast last weekThe guest, Dr. Phil, asked Newsom if he presented himself to the presidency in 2028 and the governor did not exclude him. “You do not deviate from your future either, so we will leave that,” he said.
If Newsom finally enters the race, it is unlikely that the voters care about his pivot of the promises of past promises that he would not, said Sabato, because it will be expected.
“If you are governor of California, the hypothesis is that you present yourself to the presidency,” he said.
And broken promises seem more unimportant in politics, Sabato added: “The only thing Trump has done for everyone is to eliminate the question of hypocrisy.”