California Governor Gavin Newsom says he’s not planning a presidential run—at least not yet.
Speaking on Meet the Press, Newsom pushed back when asked directly why he wants to be president. “I don’t,” he said flatly, before clarifying that speculation about a campaign didn’t come from him. “Nothing I dislike more than the politician that sits there and lies to you, and we all just sit there rolling our eyes going, give me a break,” he added.
When asked about the future of the Democratic Party and his own role in it, Newsom was pressed on his support for then-President Biden following his rocky debate earlier this year.
Despite widespread concern within the party, Newsom said he never doubted Biden’s ability to serve. “I never had that,” he told Meet the Press, adding that he’d spoken with Biden just hours before the interview. The governor said he spent nearly two hours with the former president in the Oval Office last December and came away confident. “My experience, his expression, gave me no pause, no doubt.”
