SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom marveled at Kamala Harris’ first 48-hour sprint as the Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, after being pelted with questions on his own podcast about why he’s not running.
Newsom’s debut podcast Wednesday alongside former NFL great Marshawn Lynch and their friend, the sports agent Doug Hendrickson, represent the California governor’s first public comments since President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Harris on Sunday.
Lynch opened the discussion on their “Politickin’” show with a question for Newsom: “Hell naw, Gavin, why the [expletive] you ain’t running for president,” he asked.
“[Expletive] that,” Lynch said, referring to Newsom as ‘Batman’. “I’m sorry.”
Newsom, 56, rose up the ranks of San Francisco, and then California politics, with Harris, 59. Each has looked over their shoulder at the other over the years, seemingly on a crash course to a White House run. Now, Harris is at the doorstep of the presidency.
Lynch said the whole situation was “more spicy” because “I am sitting down with, possibly, the mother-[expletive] that could really go and do it.”
Newsom laughed. Harris’ ascension has created a major question mark about Newsom’s future that won’t be answered until voters render their judgment on her in November. If Harris defeats former President Donald Trump, Newsom would be sidelined from a White House run for as many as eight years, and possibly, for good. If she loses, he’ll immediately start revving up a 2028 run of his own, with Trump as his foil over the last two years of his governorship.
Newsom didn’t get into any of that on the show. Instead, he went into a moment-by-moment retelling of that fateful morning.
He said he was working out on a gym treadmill when he started getting texts and calls from people about Biden dropping out. Newsom said he was surprised.
“That was the last thing I was expecting on a quiet Sunday,” he said. Newsom said he didn’t get a heads up before the tweet went out from Biden’s account.
Newsom said his phone was lighting up so much that he missed text messages from the White House, and calls to him from both Biden and Harris. He did not say if he’s connected with either of them since, and a spokesperson did not have an immediate answer.
“I didn’t even see them because I had hundreds of text messages,” he said. “The president calls, the vice president calls, I’m still in the damn gym. … I didn’t even know that they called because the rest of my phone was lighting up and I was just focused on putting out a statement on behalf of the president.”
Newsom issued that statement on Biden Sunday morning. Later in the afternoon Sunday, he put out another statement endorsing Harris. He didn’t comment on the situation until his podcast aired early Wednesday.
On the show, Newsom then addressed Lynch and his prodding, not mentioning himself but saying people are now all-in for Harris.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Newsom said. “Just a few years ago, your hometown girl from Oakland, on Martin Luther King Day, she had a rally that was unbelievable. Almost 20—, 15, 20,000 people … announcing her campaign for president.”
Newsom noted the $1.5 million Harris raised at the time in the first 24 hours. This time, Harris’ 24-hour haul was $81 million. And it’s grown significantly since.
Newsom called Harris’ performance Tuesday at a rally in Milwaukee “unbelievable,” with “next-level” energy.
“The script is flipped, just like that, 48 hours,” he said. “This is a binary choice. You got a guy who wants to bring us back to a pre-1960s world and then you got Kamala Harris, who is just lighting it up right now. Light-ing it up,” he said.
“I pity Donald Trump right now. He was not prepared for this to happen. He’s flat-footed.”
The hosts then turned to other matters, including an interview with Golden State Warriors great Draymond Green, who warned Newsom that people will likely criticize him for having a podcast while he’s still governor, like they did Green, who started his show as an active player.
Lynch jumped in with a message for potential critics: “Shut the [expletive] up.”
