It's been obvious for some time now that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is running for president.
For sure, he's not on any ballot this year, but he's been conducting a shadow campaign, complete with sleeper cells just waiting to be activated the moment Joe Biden drops out. Many believe that if he runs, he'll be favored to win.
Newsom has done everything possible to increase his national presence, and that hasn't exactly worked out well for him. His debate against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) did him no favors as DeSantis wiped the floor with him.
Meanwhile, recent polling suggests that Newsom can't even convince Californians he's doing a good job. According to a Berkeley IGS poll of registered voters in California back in November, Newsom’s approval ratings are underwater. A month earlier, his approval rating hit 44%, down 11 points from February, just eight months prior, an all-time low for the governor. His disapproval rating also hit 49%, an all-time high. This is quite a swing considering he had been recently reelected and survived a recall attempt.
If Newsom was ever in a strong position to run for president, that time is long gone — even if his biggest supporters don't see it.
In a recent episode of his "Club Random" podcast, Bill Maher gushed over Newsom, whom he wishes could run for president now instead of Joe Biden. But when guest Patrick Bet-David asked why he thought Newsom could win, he couldn't come up with anything.
"First of all, I love him," Maher said. "You just like a guy or you don't. I've known him for a long time. He's done my show for a long time. Do I love everything he does as the governor of California? No, I don't. I wouldn't say I'm undertaxed. Uhhh... yeah, it's there's... I have issues with this state. He's a guy — one reason I wanted to run for president. Well, it's because he's obviously a winner. This guy could f***ing do it. It's insane that we have the guy, but we can't run him because he has to tiptoe around Biden."
Maher hasn't been shy about how he thinks Biden is weak and is likely to lose against Trump, so it wasn't particularly shocking to hear him say that. But Bet-David then asked Maher to "define a winner."
Maher replied by saying, "Well — win the election. He would win the election."
"Oh, so he's a talented debater, speaker, communicator, deflector," Bet-David said.
"And politician," Maher added, before explaining that if Newsom ran for president, it would force him to the center. But that's when things really fell apart for Maher. He kept insisting that Newsom could win the election and was repeatedly challenged to explain why.
"But based on what, though?" Bet-David asked. "Do you want results like — What has he done to California to say he's a winner?"
"Oh God," Maher lamented. "I don't know. You know, he made it rain? Okay, dude? It wasn't raining. And now it's raining, so he's got my vote. I don't know. I don't follow the news. That's it."
Serious request.
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) February 5, 2024
Could someone list 3 things Newsom did to improve the state of California? 👇🏽
I’m curious.
pic.twitter.com/GMK8amAnFp
It was a rather embarrassing moment for Maher, who clearly likes Newsom but can't explain why, save for his belief that Newsom could win the election. Maher's inability to name a single thing his own governor has done to improve the state speaks to the fact that Newsom's ability to win a national election is a façade. The only things he brings to the table that Biden doesn't are youth and mental competency, and does anyone really think that this would be enough? Newsom wholeheartedly endorsed Biden and says he's done a good job as president — something most Americans simply don't agree with.
There's little reason to believe that Newsom can make a case to be elected president when one of his biggest fans can't even explain what he's accomplished.
