Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has become one of President Trump’s most high-profile adversaries, told “CBS News Sunday Morning” in an exclusive interview that he will consider whether to run for president after the 2026 midterm elections.
In an interview taped Thursday in San Jose, Newsom was asked whether he would give “serious thought” to a White House bid once next year’s midterm elections are over.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom replied. “I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that.”
Newsom, whose term ends in January 2027 and is prevented from running again due to term limits, cautioned that any decision is years away.
“Fate will determine that,” he said, when asked about whether he is moving closer to working out a reason for a national candidacy.
Newsom, 58, has made trips to key battleground states, including a visit this past July to South Carolina, which as of now is slated to host the first Democratic primary in the 2028 presidential election, although that could change.
During that trip, which featured multiple stops and was covered by “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Newsom met with state Democratic leaders and stopped by a coffee shop to rally activists and help employees serve espresso drinks.
“I happen to, and thank God, I’m in the right business,” Newsom said in the interview, when asked about his evident enjoyment in meeting Democrats in South Carolina. “I love people. I actually love people.”
Newsom said talk of him possibly running for president, after facing challenges throughout his life, including dyslexia, is a reminder to him that lives can go in surprising directions.
“I have no idea,” Newsom said of whether he will decide to run. “The idea that a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom, the idea that you would even throw that out is, in and of itself, extraordinary. Who the hell knows? I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people.”
Newsom said his focus now is on passing Proposition 50, a California ballot measure he has championed that would allow state Democrats to temporarily change the boundaries of U.S. House districts and make them more favorable to the party. Newsom has cast his effort, which will be decided in a special election next week, as a response to Mr. Trump’s push for Republican-controlled states, like Texas, to change their congressional maps so the GOP has a better chance at holding on to its narrow House majority next year.
“I think it’s about our democracy. It’s about the future of this republic. I think it’s about, you know, what the Founding Fathers lived and died for, this notion of the rule of law, and not the rule of Don,” Newsom said.
Tensions have run high ahead of the vote, with both parties seeing redistricting efforts as critical to achieving their goal of winning the U.S. House majority next year. Whichever party holds control of the House has subpoena and oversight powers over the Executive Branch.
“We’ve got hundreds and hundreds, ICE and Border Patrol,” Newsom told Proposition 50 supporters on Thursday at a labor event, referring to federal agents in the state. Newsom predicted their presence might increase ahead of the Nov. 4 special election.
“Don’t think for a second we’re not going to be seeing more of that through Election Day,” Newsom said. “These guys are not screwing around.”
In recent days, the Justice Department said it would send its own monitors to supervise the special election in California and the gubernatorial election in New Jersey. Newsom has denounced the move, calling it a Trump administration move to intimidate Democrats. The goal, according to the Justice Department, is “to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.”
While Newsom has long been a fixture in California, his foray into presidential politics generated intense interest last year when he was a fierce defender of President Joe Biden, especially in the wake of Biden’s debate performance against Mr. Trump, which prompted many Democrats to call for Biden to exit the 2024 race.
Newsom, however, never wavered on Biden’s candidacy. In the days before Biden dropped out of the race, Newsom stumped for him nationwide, including in New Hampshire.
Speaking with “CBS News Sunday Morning” there in July 2024, about a week before Biden left the race, Newsom said he was “all in” on Biden.
“No daylight,” Newsom said of his alliance with Biden at the time.
According to sources close to both Newsom and Biden, the two men are close and have stayed in touch since Biden left the White House. Newsom is also friendly with former President Barack Obama, who has offered support for Proposition 50 and joined Newsom and volunteers on a video call last week.
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