Gavin Newsom On Kamala Harris: “I Wouldn’t Run If She Ran”

The careers of Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris have paralleled each other since at least 2004, when he was sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco and she as the city’s D.A. Since then, their political fortunes have skyrocketed, with Newsom becoming a two-term governor and Harris a senator and then VP. Now, of course, they’re both reportedly considering runs for president in 2028. But, according the Newsom, they won’t be running against each other.

“I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see,” Newsom told Jake Tapper in a new interview. “I wouldn’t run if she ran.”

Tapper says he was stunned to hear that.

“Why would I?” Newsom asked. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me…I won’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”

The governor then explained that, beyond friendship, such a matchup doesn’t make political sense for democrats.

“Electorally it’s a gift from God for everybody else,” the governor explained. “They’d enjoy the hell out of it. Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good. Why would I do this if I wasn’t trying to serve some greater good? There would be no upside whatsoever.”

Newsom also noted it would tax the same base of support.

“I know her base of supporters, I know her friends, the (Venn) diagram on that is just pure crossover…I wouldn’t do that to people. I wouldn’t put them in that position.”

While Tapper may have been shocked, Newsom has said as much before. In 2023, he told Chuck Todd of the chance that they might run against each other, “Of course not. By definition, it won’t happen. I’ve said that a thousand times.”

As for not running against Trump in 2024, the governor says there were even more basic considerations arguing against his candadicy.

“I wasn’t ready,” he said. “I would have gotten crushed because I didn’t have a why. You don’t have big enough why, then you don’t belong there.”