BREAKING: Gavin Newsom says he will not run for president in 2028 if Kamala Harris runs

Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Newsom, who is one of a few Democrats being floated to run for the presidency, said of Harris, “I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see.” He later added, “I wouldn’t run if she ran.”

Tapper asked, “If she runs, you will not?”

“Of course not,” Newsom replied. “Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to her … I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”

“First of all, electorally, it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They can enjoy the hell out of it. Mutually assured destruction. It serves no greater good,” Newsom said.

Tapper shot back, “She had a shot and you’ve never run and she’s run twice.” Harris ran in 2020 seeking the Democrat Party's nomination for president. During her brief stint in the primaries, she gained some 3% of the vote. She ran again in 2024 but only when her boss, President Joe Biden, was forced out of the race due to apparent age-related mental decline and endorsed her in his stead.

“Yeah, I mean that’d be the approach to the campaign certainly,” Newsom said. “That’d be the case you’d make. A pretty good one actually. That’s objectively true.”

“I know her base of supporters. I know her friends,” Newsom said. "The Venn diagram on that is just pure crossover. I wouldn’t do that to people."

A poll released over Labor Day weekend showed Harris in the lead among Democrats for the 2028 presidential primary in the party, with 29 percent support. Following her is Newsom, with 14 percent support.

Gavin Newsom has increasingly been positioning himself for a potential 2028 presidential run, building a national profile beyond his role as California governor, a role for which he is term-limited. He has made appearances in early-primary states such as South Carolina and taken frequent stances against Trump’s presidency. He has also launched a podcast, in which he speaks to guests across the political spectrum and he published a book, often a tell-tale sign of an intent to run.

While Harris hasn't officially declared that she is running, she has said that she is “thinking about” running. She lost to President Donald Trump in 2024 and many Democrats framed that as somehow racist of misogynist despite her previous unpopularity with voters of her own party. When Biden chose her to be his running mate, it was after promising he would choose a black woman for the role.