Governor Newsom Dismisses Calls for Replacing Biden On Democratic Ticket

Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed calls for him to replace President Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket on Thursday evening and Friday, saying that he would “never turn my back on President Biden.”

Between 2021 and 2023, Governor Newsom had been one of the favorite possible candidates for a run for the Democratic ticket in 2024 should Biden have decided that he didn’t want to run again or would have to not run again because of health or age concerns. However, as early as November 2022, Newsom had been denying interest for 2024, throwing all his support behind Biden. However, a surge in unpopularity for Biden in 2023, along with polls showing that nearly three quarters of Americans didn’t want Biden to run in 2024, renewed interest in a possible Newsom 2024 run.

Finally, in September 2023, Newsom fully backed out of any sort of 2024 by officially supporting the Biden/Harris 2024 ticket. In an interview, he said that “The answer is no. No ambiguity. I’m not that guy. I’m just not. Of course [Kamala] Harris should be the Democratic 2024 vice presidential nominee. The Biden-Harris administration is a masterclass in terms of performance, bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act. I mean, by definition, if I think this administration last two, two and a half years, has been one of the most outstanding administrations the last few decades, and she’s a member of that administration, she gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success. The answer is absolutely.”

“Democrats need to get out of this sort of navel-gazing about Joe Biden, and let’s get going. Let’s get on the train. This train has left the proverbial station.”

While many Democrats still think of either Newsom or Harris as possible “emergency candidates” in case something happens to President Biden, Newsom instead appears to look forward to a 2028 presidential run. While he has not confirmed anything due to the race being well over 4 years away, it has been something of an open secret that he now wants to run in 2028. In just the past 9 months since his full backing of Biden in the 2024 election, Newsom has increased his foreign policy profile by taking high-profile international visits to places like Israel and China, has attended fundraisers or donated to candidates in key early primary states, has said that a new memoir is on the way, has been signaling back a move to Marin County, has debated likely 2028 Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and has generally done more and more things hinting of a run following the end of his Governorship in January 2027.

As Newsom is the prime choice for Democrats in 2028, as well as being a high-profile backer of Biden, he attended the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday night. While Newsom and other major Democratic allies of the president were in Atlanta to show support for Biden and be representatives for Biden following the debate, the situation quickly shifted towards damage control. While Biden’s performance had been expected to assuage any concerns over Biden’s age or mental faculties, it instead exacerbated it, as Biden repeatedly tripped over his lines, forgot major policy talking points like Medicare mid sentence, and was hard to understand. Even former President Trump, who was more subdued than in previous debates against Biden, noted after one of his responses “I don’t know if he knows what he said, either.”

Polls following the debate declared Trump the winner, stunning many Democrats. Before the debate, a CNN poll found that Trump only had a slight 55%-45% edge over Biden when voters said who they thought would do a better job in the debate. However, a flash poll by CNN after the debate found that 67% of voters said that Trump did a better job, compared to only 33% for Biden. White House staffers were even reported to have been “deflated” by Biden’s performance.

Biden’s poor debate performance

To the Democrat’s chagrin, speculation on a replacement candidate for Biden following the debate became the main question of concern after the debate. Democratic leadership largely held firm. “I support the ticket. I support the Senate Democratic majority. We’re going to do everything possible to take back the House in November,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

Some, like Congresswoman and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), went on the offensive as expected. In a statement on Friday, Pelosi said that “From a performance standpoint, it wasn’t great. But from a values standpoint, it far outshined Trump. I think that on his worst night, his presentation of integrity was better than the other guy’s dishonesty. To see the Republicans embrace that dishonesty is just stunning. So, no, I have no problems. I don’t know of any Democrats calling on Biden to step aside.”

A White House spokesman also feverishly denied such a drop out on Friday, telling the press “That’s not happening. The only things being replaced are recession-causing MAGAnomics and radical abortion bans. These people have panicked as we won all along.”

While no Democratic lawmakers outright said they wanted Biden to drop out in favor of someone else, many did say that they were a little more non-committal now and admitted that Biden lost the debate.

“Joe Biden had one thing he had to do tonight, and he didn’t do it,” said former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) following the debate. “He had one thing he had to accomplish, and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age. And he failed at that. I think we’ll know a lot more in a few weeks how this plays out, how the polling plays out, but I think a couple of things are going on right now. I think I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now.”

This all led back to Newsom. Following the debate, Newsom, answering questions for reporters, was swamped. Because of Newsom’s recent past speculation for a 2024 run, many asked him if he still supported Biden and if he would be replacing him in the election. However, Newsom shut down reporters, saying he was still committed to supporting Biden and that he would not run for president in 2024.

The @GOP are cowards — refusing to secure our border at the request of their weak king, Donald Trump.

It’s pathetic. pic.twitter.com/shNsOGwJkW

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 28, 2024

“I will never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden, I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so,” stressed Newsom in Atlanta on Thursday. “I think it’s unhelpful, and I think it’s unnecessary. We’ve got to go in, we’ve got to keep our head high, and, as I say, we’ve got to have the back of this president. You don’t turn your back because of one performance.”

With speculation on Newsom still fresh on Friday despite his denials, as well as denials from Democratic leaders, Newsom went on a Twitter posting binge on Friday morning, outlining his support for Biden, as well as his efforts in fundraising for him in recent months.

We’ve already raised $200k and counting for the @DNC — let’s keep it going.

We have to defeat Trump, re-elect POTUS, and have the backs of Dems up and down the ticket.

Let’s post a huge number and scare the Trump campaign. https://t.co/liewNRJiKB

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 28, 2024

“This isn’t going to go away,” said Melissa Spielman, a political analyst who focuses on presidential primaries, to the Globe on Friday. “Biden was back giving speeches today and tried to play off his performance last night, but the damage is done. And for the Democrats, the next best candidates are Harris and Newsom. They’ve been the ‘back pocket’ people for the Dems should anything happen to Biden. And, well, we saw that play last night.”

“Newsom was hounded by the press, and every leader in the party said Biden was still the candidate. But it will continue. That debate performance was that bad, and many are now questioning if Biden is really healthy enough. Trump, meanwhile, was seen as the stronger candidate by the vast majority, which is the last thing the Dems wanted. So Newsom is going to be bothered by this up until the DNC. Harris probably to an extent too. They didn’t think Biden would do this badly, but he did and now the Democrats likely 2028 candidate is on the hotseat.”

Both President Biden and former President Trump are expected to give more formal statements on the debate soon.