California Governor Gavin Newsom suggested in an interview that aired over the weekend that if for some reason President Joe Biden does not run for re-election in 2024 that Vice President Kamala Harris will be the person who represents the Democrat Party at the top of the ticket.
Newsom made the remarks in a Sunday interview with Chuck Todd on NBC News’ “Meet The Press.”
“Filing deadlines haven’t passed. President Biden doesn’t run,” Todd said, “Why shouldn’t we consider you a likely candidate?”
“Well, I think the vice president is naturally the one lined up,” Newsom responded. “And the filing deadlines are quickly coming to pass. And I think we need to move past this notion that he’s not going to run. President Biden is going to run, and looking forward to getting him re-elected. I think there’s been so much wallowing in the last few months and handwringing in this respect. But we’re gearing up for the campaign. We’re looking forward to it.”
When asked what he tells donors who worry about Biden running, Newsom said that he tells them that it’s “time to move on.”
Newsom said that he was “a little old-fashioned” and that he believes that if something happened to Biden that Harris would be next in line since it’s the “Biden-Harris administration.”
He said that he and Harris have known each other for many years and have had an “extraordinarily close working relationship, including her time in the Senate.”
When asked about the possibility of running against each other, Newsom said he could not imagine doing so.
“Won’t happen. But we’ve – I’ve said that 1,000 times. We privately continue to maintain a very good relationship, interpersonal,” he said. “Just, ‘How are you doing? Checking in.’ It’s been a challenging few years with COVID. And we’ve had the opportunity to sit down, have lunch together in the White House, spend time talking about important things –”
Newsom added that someone from Harris’ office was upset with him for setting up a debate with Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis later this year.
WATCH:
WATCH: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) says Democrats “need to move past” their worries about whether President Biden is really running for re-election.@chucktodd: What do you tell donors who are handwringing over this?@GavinNewsom: “Time to move on. Let’s go.” pic.twitter.com/r1hGzOpm6d
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 10, 2023