Gavin Newsom Accused Of Secretly Running For President By Democrat Lawmaker

Did Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) say the quiet part out loud about Gavin Newsom?

The California governor is running a shadow campaign for president?

“There are two additional Democrats running for president right now. One is the Congressman from Minnesota and the other one is the governor of California,” Fetterman said.

They’re both running for president, but only one had the guts to announce it,” he added.

WATCH:

Fetterman Accuses Newsom of Not Having the ‘Guts to Announce’ He’s Running for President pic.twitter.com/JRPtb0FwoN

— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) November 7, 2023

The Pennsylvania senator isn’t the only individual thinking Newsom is secretly gunning for the presidency.

Newsom’s recent moves raise speculation that he’s attempting to boost his national profile.

“His vetoes, his foreign trips, his upcoming debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: It all adds up to something like a shadow presidential campaign by California Gov. Gavin Newsom,” The Epoch Times writes.

Is Gavin Newsom Running A Shadow Presidential Campaign? https://t.co/88VsYrCKnv

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 7, 2023

The Epoch Times reports:

It’s hard to predict how Mr. Newsom might pull it off, at least during this cycle—he has remained a steadfast supporter of incumbent President Joe Biden, and as the filing deadlines for multiple Democratic primaries have passed, he hasn’t flinched.

He could be gunning for 2028, two years after state term limits will force him out of the governor’s mansion. Or, if events line up just right, he could make his move sooner.

“I think it’s been pretty obvious that Newsom has been positioning himself for a run in 2028 and to be available in 2024 should Biden’s health or capacities deteriorate to the point that Democrats decide that they need another candidate,” Morris Fiorina, professor of political science and Hoover Institution fellow at Stanford University, told The Epoch Times.

California Assemblyman James Gallagher, who leads the Republicans in that chamber of the California Legislature, also cast doubt on President Biden’s ability to campaign for another term.

“Right now, everybody in public is saying they’re rallying behind Joe Biden, but it’s very clear that he is deteriorating,” Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.

Gloria Romero, a Democrat who was formerly majority leader of the California state Senate, said that “the conundrum is the vice president,” and she dubbed Mr. Newsom “the replacement candidate.”

Fetterman hits Newsom for not having 'guts' to admit he's running shadow campaign against Biden https://t.co/gxMFVg8plr

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 7, 2023

Fox News had more on Fetterman’s comments:

Fetterman continued, “I got to tell you, let me say I got an opinion. If you are a Democrat that wants to criticize and go after Joe Biden, our president, just go ahead and write a check for Trump.”

The Pennsylvania Democrat was referencing a recent announcement from Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips that he will be running a primary challenge to Biden while Newsom has faced accusations in recent months of vying for the job without officially announcing.

“This trip here, he’s trying to build a base,” GOP Congressman Doug LaMalfa told Fox News Digital last month in response to some high profile trips Newsom has taken, including to China, as speculation grows that President Biden may not run for a second term. “He’s running the back channels until Biden takes himself out and the party says, ‘Man we’re going to get killed on this.'”

Fetterman’s swipe at Newsom comes around the same time a New York Times-Siena College poll showed that Biden trails former President Trump in the key swing states of Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

A Monmouth University poll released earlier this month showed that 76% of voters agreed Biden, 80, was “too old” to serve another term, compared to just 48% who said the same about Trump, 77.

With Joe Biden’s putrid polling numbers and Kamala Harris’ unlikability, perhaps Democrats are getting their replacement candidate ready for 2024?