Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) denied he would accept the Democratic nomination in 2024 following the Republican debate in California on Wednesday.
Fox News host Sean Hannity prompted the governor, “Under any circumstances at all … will you ever, ever accept the Democratic nomination to run for president in 2024, under any circumstances at all? That’s a yes or no.”
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“Of course not. It’s a hypothetical,” Newsom told him.
As Hannity pushed him for a decisive answer, Newsom said, “No.”
The California Democrat claimed the notion was “ridiculous,” reiterating, “Joe Biden’s our president.”
“He’s gonna win this reelection,” he added, claiming he also won the GOP debate.
The question comes as people have become increasingly concerned about Biden’s age, 80, and its effect on his ability to serve another term as president effectively. In a recent Associated Press/NORC poll, 77% claimed his age prohibited him from serving another term effectively. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term.
More than half of respondents said the same for former President Donald Trump, who is 77.
Ahead of the 2024 campaign season, speculation whirled that Newsom — who has been building a national profile through trips to red states with his PAC, Campaign for Democracy, and launching a billboard campaign nationwide — would be running against Biden in the Democratic primary. But the California governor has vehemently denied this.
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Instead, Newsom led the campaign’s effort to counter the Republicans’ messaging ahead of and during the second debate.
Even as Newsom denies plans to run and works to promote Biden’s reelection, some are still holding out for a last-minute 2024 bid, particularly because the California governor’s moves on the national stage haven’t slowed down. In November, he will take on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a Republican presidential candidate, in a debate in the battleground state of Georgia.
