Newsom roasted online for 'staged' fly-fishing interview with CNN anchor where he dropped major 2028 hint

Social media users are taking jabs at California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his latest political stunt — a recorded fly-fishing outing with a CNN anchor that the Democrat used to break news about his often-rumored presidential ambitions.

In the interview, recorded in Montana more than a month ago, CNN's Jake Tapper is seen with Newsom standing in shallow water, repeatedly casting fly reels while talking politics. Newsom told Tapper he wouldn't run for president if former Vice President and failed 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris tossed her hat into the ring.

"Of course not. Why would I?" Newsom said when asked whether he would run against Harris in a presidential primary. "I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to you."

"I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?"

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Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom visit Pine Ridge Elementary School and tour fire-ravaged properties damaged by the Creek Fire in an unincorporated area of Fresno, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2020. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Tapper pushed back, saying Newsom could do it if he really wanted to.

But the Golden State governor replied by saying that would be a "gift from God for everybody else," likely referencing those who don't want to see a Democrat win in November, and claimed a primary against the former nominee would be "mutually assured destruction."

"I know her base of supporters. I know her friends," Newsom said of the former U.S. senator from California.

"The zen diagram (sic) on that is just pure crossover. It’s not — I wouldn’t do that to — I wouldn’t do that to people," he said, mixing up the Buddhist meditation practice with a Venn diagram, the visual tool where overlapping circles are used to show how groups are similar and different.

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris both said in separate media interviews that they're keeping their options open for potential 2028 presidential runs. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On social media, the reactions to the video widely shamed the pair for a stunt that what was viewed as contrived.

"why [sic] is newsom fly fishing in business casual?" an X user named Sam Alberti asked.

"How lucky are we that a camera crew just happened to be standing in a Montana river while two guys who can’t cast pretended to fly fish," said a popular X user with more than 55,000 followers. "Totally organic. Not staged at all. CNN is doing the Lord’s work trying to make Newsom look like a regular dude. Herculean task.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​"

Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross wrote, "The best part of this is when Newsom says 'Zen diagram' when he was talking about a Venn diagram."

"Jake Tapper and Gavin Newsom pretending to be regular guys fishing is absolutely hilarious," said another user with 1.7 million followers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom points to the crowd during an event hosted by the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Carter-Sullivan American Legion on February 23, 2026 in Manning, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

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"This is the most Gavin Newsom-ish fishing video ever -- the French Laundry of fishing!" said politico Kenneth Baer, referring to the upscale California restaurant where Newsom dined with a group of friends during COVID-19 lockdown despite his implementation on state-wide restrictions on social gatherings during the pandemic.

"'Let’s do this interview surrounded by an entire film and sound crew in the river. Yeah, yeah, that’ll make us seem like nature guys,'" economist Nick Messenger said sarcastically.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office but did not hear back by time of publication.