Has Gavin Newsom Already Sealed His 2028 Fate?

Following President Joe Biden’s debate debacle and Vice President Kamala Harris’s stinging defeat last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom appeared to have the early inside track to the 2028 Democrat nomination. But just a few months later, his overzealous pursuit of power and unhinged anti-Trump hysteria may have already sunk his presidential aspirations.

Even before Biden withdrew from the race last July, speculation swirled in Democrat circles that Newsom, rather than Harris, could replace Biden atop the ticket. As the leader of America’s most populous state and a $4 trillion economy, the Governor of California always has a unique national profile – and Newsom has taken full advantage of that fact.

Since Trump’s second inauguration, however, Newsom has thoroughly embarrassed himself to the point where, even if he can win the Democrat primary, he may have permanently tainted his image with the broader public.

The bizarre spectacle of Newsom’s press office attempting to mimic Trump’s speaking style with a flood of social media posts is the most recent example of this phenomenon. Following Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, for instance, the account tweeted, “TRUMP JUST FLED THE PODIUM WITH PUTIN — NO QUESTIONS, NOTHING! TOTAL LOW ENERGY. THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE’D JUST EATEN 3 BUCKETS OF KFC WITH VLAD. IS HE AFRAID THE PRESS WILL ASK ABOUT ME??? (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) AND THE FACT I ‘STOLE THE CAMERAS’ THIS WEEK WITH ‘THE MAPS’?”

Other posts from Newsom’s team have similarly copied Trump’s tendency to use all capital letters and interjections in his posts on Truth Social.

It’s clear that Newsom and his staff think the strategy is quite hilarious and a successful effort at “trolling” the President. But to most Americans, it just seems like a childish cry for attention. While Trump is engaged in high-stakes meetings with world leaders to end a bloody conflict, Newsom’s office is trying to leech off Trump’s gravitas to turn the cameras back toward them. That’s hardly the leadership contrast Newsom wants if he’s serious about running for president.

As if that weren’t embarrassing enough for Newsom, he himself was thoroughly trolled last week after he breathlessly declared that Trump would be running for a third term because he “received, in the mail, a ‘Trump 2028’ hat.” Yes, that’s right – the governor of the country’s largest state, who wants the American people to make him the most powerful man in the world, apparently believes Trump will be violating the Constitution and running for a third term because someone sent him a hat in the mail as a joke.

Newsom’s obsession with Trump has also carried over into copying Trump’s 2024 strategy of making the rounds on the podcast circuit, including appearances with conservatives. During one podcast earlier this year with Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk, Newsom ignited a firestorm on the left for awkwardly suggesting that he may agree with keeping men out of women’s sports – despite the fact that he has signed legislation expressly protecting the right of men to compete on women’s sports teams.

On a more general level, Americans don’t want politicians who define themselves by being the antithesis of something else. Newsom has built his entire political identity around being anti-Trump despite the fact that Trump will not be on the ballot in 2028.

Newsom’s redistricting scheme isn’t likely to earn him any goodwill with voters beyond hardcore Democrats, either. In 2008, California voters approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission to draw the state’s legislative and congressional maps. But now, in response to efforts by Texas to redraw its maps, Newsom is seeking to bypass the commission and create an even more aggressive Democrat gerrymander that could leave Republicans with as few as four of the state’s 52 U.S. House seats.

However, in order for California Democrats to draw new maps, voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment. According to a Politico poll out last week, Californians oppose such an amendment by a two-to-one margin. Notably, 61 percent of Democrats said they wanted to keep the current maps drawn by the redistricting commission in place.

Newsom has already sunk a significant amount of political and reputational capital in his scheme to “fight back” against Texas’s new maps. If that gambit is rejected by voters in his own state, it would be a major black eye ahead of a potential presidential run.

Running for any political office in the United States, but especially for president, is always a delicate balancing act between controlling the narrative and not looking desperate for attention. Donald Trump has proven himself a master of maintaining this equilibrium. Newsom, however, has utterly failed in this regard.

Instead of projecting strength, Newsom is flailing for clicks like a late-night comic doing a bad Trump impression. Voters may forgive arrogance, but they rarely reward desperation. If first impressions decide elections, Newsom just wrote his own punchline for 2028.

Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.