Gavin Newsom’s 2028 Ambitions Clash With His Failing Record
Newsom may charm CBS News audiences with talk of “fate” and “democracy,” but the fate he’s really courting is that of a governor whose state is unraveling.
California Governor Gavin Newsom may be term-limited out of Sacramento in 2026, but he’s clearly not done with politics. In a new interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Newsom admitted what many have long suspected: he’s eyeing the White House.
“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom said when asked if he’d give “serious thought” to a presidential bid after the 2026 midterms. “I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that.”
Newsom told CBS that “fate will determine” his decision, but his frequent travels to early primary states like South Carolina, his national media presence, and his efforts to position himself as a counterweight to President Trump all point toward an inevitable 2028 run.
“I happen to, and thank God, I’m in the right business,” Newsom said. “I love people. I actually love people.”
The governor framed his current focus around Proposition 50, a controversial redistricting measure he claims is about “our democracy,” but which critics argue is a blatant power grab designed to reshape congressional maps in favor of Democrats.
“I think it’s about our democracy. It’s about the future of this republic. It’s about… the rule of law, and not the rule of Don,” Newsom told CBS News.
That kind of rhetoric is classic Newsom: defiant, combative, and self-righteous. But beneath the polished interviews and smooth talk lies a record filled with reversals, contradictions, and policies that have left California reeling.
As Legal Insurrection noted earlier this year, Newsom has been “making a desperate bid for both money and relevance” as his state faces a staggering $68 billion deficit and soaring costs for Medi-Cal, California’s health program for low-income residents.
“Liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $2.8 billion bailout Monday to close the state’s bloated deficit in California’s Medicaid program… which surpassed projections due to the program’s expansion last year to include illegal immigrants.”
When that expansion proved fiscally disastrous, Newsom quietly reversed course.
“Under a plan that is part of a larger budget proposal Newsom will unveil later this morning, adults 19-years-old and older who are living in the country illegally would no longer be able to register for the state’s Medi-Cal insurance program beginning in 2026.”
So much for progressive consistency.
And then there’s his tone-deaf habit of mocking religious Americans. Following a tragic school shooting in Minneapolis, Newsom took to X (formerly Twitter) to deride Christians offering prayers for the victims.
“Newsom thought it was a good idea to double down on the faith-based attacks by zeroing in on House Speaker Mike Johnson… over his defense of prayer and his criticisms of Democrats for being wildly out of touch.”
For someone preparing a presidential run, Newsom’s dismissive attitude toward faith, his fiscal recklessness, and his political opportunism may play well in coastal enclaves, but not in the heartland.
As Legal Insurrection’s Stacey Matthews observed, “Assuming Newsom does what we all know he wants to do and runs for president in 2028, this is an area he does not want to go into… he will absolutely get torched for it and drag vulnerable Democrats down with him.”
Newsom may charm CBS News audiences with talk of “fate” and “democracy,” but the fate he’s really courting is that of a governor whose state is unraveling, and whose record, when held up to the national spotlight, may be too tarnished to withstand scrutiny.
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Comments
Who here besides me would just love to punch this dirtbag right in the nose?
I would like to see that greasy head of hair catch flames. Serves him right for what he has done to California.
Would rather ridicule him to his face while being prepared for lawful, proportionate self-defense if he chose to dish out any of the violence he espouses, which is unlikely because, like most liberal sociopaths, the man is all talk and 100% wuss.
He would likely react as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough did when confronted at an airport: pull out his phone and act like he’s talking on it.
The problem with punching him in the face is that if you did it, you’d never be able to get your hand clean again.
Is supporting Newsom any different than falling for another hoax?
Somewhere today I read his SAT score was 980.
Correction, 960.
All the liberal fascists love him when he posts on X.
He’d still get 47% of the vote, at least. Sadly.
81M votes. At least.
“I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that.”
Yes you can. You do it all the time.
“I can’t do that.” Easy winner of the Audacious Mendacity Prize for this month.
If democrats’ “records” determined elections, they’d never win. But their combination of faux moral outrage, lying, deflecting and promising free stuff, all while grifting and getting rich in the name of “public service”, has served them well so far. To the detriment of the country of course.
If records mattered Newsome wouldn’t have been reelected. Whitmer wouldn’t have been reelected in MI. Hoechul wouldn’t be Gov of NY. For a segment of the population the record doesn’t matter because they don’t pay attention, only care about themselves and what freebies they get and they hate Trump. I can see Newsome getting elected no matter what a dumpster fire he has made out of California.