California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning” that he would be “lying” if he denied plans to consider a presidential bid.
Asked whether it would be fair to say he would give a presidential bid “serious thought” after the midterm elections, the governor agreed.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” said Newsom, a Democrat. “I’d just be lying, and I can’t do that.”
Newsom has become a leading voice in the opposition to President Donald Trump, slamming the administration’s handling of issues such as National Guard deployments and immigration raids. He is ineligible to run for re-election as governor in 2026 due to term limits.
His comments come as Democrats have struggled to find a path forward amid low approval ratings. With Republicans in control of the White House, House and Senate, polling this year has indicated that most Democratic voters want congressional Democrats to stick to their positions rather than to seek compromise.
The governor has previously said he would need to have a “why” if he decided to run for president.
Asked by CBS News whether he was closer to finding his reason for running — his “why” — Newsom said that if someone has “a compelling ‘why,’ you can endure any ‘how.’”
“I think the biggest challenge for anyone who runs for any office is people see right through you. If you don’t have that ‘why,’ you’re doing it for the wrong reasons,” he said.
“Fate will determine that,” he added.
Other potential 2028 candidates have begun indicating their openness to a presidential bid. During an interview with the BBC on Saturday, former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to open the door to another campaign. After Harris said that her nieces would see a female president in their lifetimes, she was asked whether it could be her.
“Possibly,” Harris said, also saying during the interview that “I am not done.”
Newsom has forcefully pushed back on the Trump administration, frequently mocking the president on social media while the state government has sued the president over multiple National Guard moves. The Trump administration, in turn, has targeted California, deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles after protests against immigration raids.
The governor has also butted heads with Republicans over redistricting. Following the GOP’s unconventional mid-decade redistricting in Texas to boost Republicans’ chances in the 2026 midterms, he pushed California to counter with its own redistricting plan in favor of Democrats. Republican redistricting efforts have since rippled across the country.
Newsom was first elected governor in 2018. He previously served as the state’s lieutenant governor and the mayor of San Francisco.
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