Gavin Newsom is closer than ever to running for president in 2028. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, California’s Governor admitted he’ll strongly examine whether or not he will run for president in 2028 after 2026 midterms.
“I’d be lying [if I said] otherwise. I’d just be lying and I can’t do that,” Newsom explained. “I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that’s the question for the American people.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Newsom admitted he has grave concerns about the possibility Donald Trump could attempt to seek a 3rd term — which is prohibited by the 22nd Amendment. Newsom also has ideas about what Democrats can do to thwart the president, who he described as “an invasive species.”
Newsom first attacked the Trump administration’s attempts at redistricting – and then explained what could be described as his own attempt to do something similar. Californian voters will weigh in on Proposition 50, which would redraw congressional district lines in favor of the Democrats.
“On one level, Proposition 50 is about congressional maps, but you’re framing it as something bigger. I think it’s about our democracy. It’s about the future of this republic. I think it’s about what the founding fathers lived and died for,” he said.
Newsom also said that this year’s elections could help Democrats “take back the House” and thus thwart some of the Trump administration’s plans.
“If you have a Speaker Johnson, we may have a third term of President Trump. I really believe that. We do not want one of Trump’s leading antagonists at a time when the President is wielding executive power across the board and facing little pushback from Republicans in Congress,” he explained. “We do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces, not in LA, not in California, not anywhere.”
When asked what it’s like leading the state of California with Trump in D.C., Newsom bluntly answered, “Yeah, I mean, it’s a hell of a way to govern.”
“We’re just governing in just profound uncertainty. This is tectonic plates that we’re familiar with out here on the West Coast, but of the nature of our politics,” he explained. “Some may find this, you know, may not be a sort of prudent thing to say about the President of the United States, but I mean, he’s an invasive species … for the country, for the world, he’s a wrecking ball, not just the symbolism and substance of the East Wing. He’s wrecking alliances, truth, trust, tradition, institutions.”
Watch the interview with Gavin Newsom in the video above.
