(VIDEO) “I Wouldn’t Do That to People” – Gavin Newsom Says He Won’t Run for President if Kamala Harris Runs During Fly Fishing Outing with Jake Tapper

California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed speculation of a 2028 bid for the White House in a CNN interview on Monday. 

Holding fly rods, knee-deep in the Bitterroot River in Montana, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Newsom discussed the 2028 election, with Newsom saying he “would never” have usurped Biden in the 2024 election and he wouldn’t challenge Kamala if she tries to run again.

Newsom was calmly dismissing his White House ambitions while fly fishing in Montana with Jake Tapper, in an obvious appeal to voters.

“I wouldn’t run if she ran,” he said, adding that he “wouldn’t do that to her” or “waste everyone’s time.”

“Electorally, it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They’d enjoy the hell out of it, mutually assured destruction. It services no greater good,” he said of a primary race with the ex-VP and himself.

Tapper noted that “she had a shot, and you’ve never run, and she’s run twice,” which Newsom agreed with, calling it a “good” case to make.

However, Newsom said, “I wouldn’t do that to people,” noting the “pure crossover” between his and her base of supporters, friends, and donors.

WATCH:

Transcript:

Tapper: How does one even make a decision to like run for president?

Newsom: I have no experience in this process, so I’m, I’m going through it.

Tapper: I remember people thinking, “Oh, he should have run in 2024.”

Newsom: I wasn’t ready.

Tapper: You weren’t ready?

Newsom: No, God, no.

Tapper: Do you think if you’d taken on Biden—

Newsom: I would never—first of all, I wouldn’t do that, and second, if I did, I would have gotten crushed because I didn’t have a why. You don’t have a big enough why, then you don’t belong there. I’m not screwing anything up anymore, man. I mean, this is the— I know what matters in life. You know, I got four kids. It’s the only thing that matters to me. They got to be on board, and if that’s, forget it if they’re not on board, that’s a non-starter. And then you just have to meet the moment, you got to be honest with yourself. Do you represent the zeitgeist in the moment, or are you wasting everybody’s time? And you just have to, honestly, you have to feel like you can stand on there and stage with what 30?

Tapper: It’s gonna be a lot of people. A lot of Democrats.

Newsom: Yeah, 31 flavors.

Tapper: And you’re not even the only Californian. You got Ro Khanna, Kamala–

Newsom: Yeah. I don’t know if she runs, but we’ll see.

Tapper: I know she’s called around.

Newsom: Yeah. But I wouldn’t run if she ran.

Tapper: If she runs, you will not?

Newsom: Of course not. Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?

Tapper: What do you mean? That doesn’t even make sense to me.

Newsom: I just, I wouldn’t. No, I wouldn’t. First of all, electorally, it’s a gift from God for everybody else. They’d enjoy the hell out of it, mutually assured destruction. It services no greater good.

Tapper: I mean, you you do whatever you want. But like, my counterargument would be like, you know, she had a shot, and you’ve never run, and she’s run twice.

Newsom: Yeah, I mean that would be the, that’d be the approach to the campaign, certainly. That would be the case you’d make. Pretty good one, actually. You know that’s objectively true. I just— but I know what that means. I know her base of supporters. I know her friends. The zen diagram on that is just pure crossover. It’s not, I wouldn’t do that to— I wouldn’t do that to people.