California Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed that he is considering a 2028 presidential bid after more than a year of speculation. He told CNN at a campaign stop in South Carolina that it would be a lie if he said he was not thinking about running, though he said a White House campaign was low on his priorities for the visit.
South Carolina, now the first‑in‑the‑nation primary state, provided a platform for Newsom to support Democratic candidates for state legislature as the party seeks to break a GOP supermajority in Charleston. He was introduced by state party chair Christale Spain, who praised his fundraising efforts.
Newsom emphasized the need for Democrats to connect with the South, saying, “If you’re a Democrat, you’ve got to come back to the South, you’ve got to connect with what’s going on in this country.” His visit was part of a four‑day swing through the Carolinas and Alabama, but he did not stop in Georgia to meet Senator Jon Ossoff.
The governor has emerged as the party’s most vocal critic of President Donald Trump in the past year, running a Twitter account that delivers aggressive, Trump‑style messaging against Republican opponents while promoting California’s image. The account recently attacked Trump for allegedly falling asleep in a White House meeting and targeted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over reports about the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Although Newsom has denied that a presidential run is his focus ahead of the 2026 mid‑term elections, he has never ruled it out. In June he said, “I’m not thinking about running, but it’s a path that I could see unfold,” and he has faced criticism from Trump, who has called Newsom’s dyslexia disqualifying.
In 2025, Newsom’s influence helped California voters approve new congressional maps that aimed to eliminate or flip Republican seats, a move that mirrored Texas Republicans’ efforts and prompted similar actions nationwide. He also released several years of tax returns in July to counter attacks on his wealth ahead of a possible national campaign. Newsom, who is term‑limited as governor, cannot run again for the state office.
