Gov. Gavin Newsom brushed aside talk of a 2028 Democratic primary clash with Kamala Harris, laughing that if it happens, it will be “fate.”
The California governor reacted to the prospect during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, who pressed him on what it would look like to face the former vice president on a debate stage.
“Kamala Harris. You write about the fact that you’ve been friends with her for a very long time, you came up together,” Bash said, noting their parallel political careers in California.
“What happens if and when those parallel careers intersect and collide?” she asked as Newsom began laughing before the question finished.
Gavin Newsom on possibly facing Kamala Harris in the 2028 presidential primary: "I've never gotten in the way of her ambition" pic.twitter.com/PDm8CmkR96
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 22, 2026
“Well, I’m San Francisco and she’s L.A., so we’re a little bit — there’s a little distance between the two of us,” he said, attempting to downplay the scenario.
Bash clarified she meant national politics. “2028. The whole country,” she said.
“That’s — you know, fate will determine that,” Newsom replied. “And I’ve never gotten in the way of her ambition, ever. I haven’t. And I don’t imagine I would in the future.”
“But if you run against each other for president —” Bash interjected.
“That’s fate,” Newsom repeated. “You only can control what you can control. I think this entire book is that fundamental lesson. And this notion of controlling what you control, and taking responsibility for what you control, is a big part of what I try to communicate in this book.”
“That’s the third thing, it’s like how this book will be received,” he added about his upcoming memoir Young Man in a Hurry. ” It’s the third thing, I can’t control it. I can’t control whatever decisions she makes.”
Neither Harris nor Newsom has formally announced a 2028 presidential bid, but both are widely viewed as potential Democratic contenders. Newsom, who is term-limited, has topped early speculation lists.
The interview quickly shifted to California’s affordability crisis, where Bash cited residents fleeing the state over soaring costs.
“California has the highest cost of living in the nation,” Bash said. “The state’s prices are 11% higher than the national average.”
“We were actually out to dinner here in Nashville last night. We met a couple from California,” she cited as an example.
“They moved out of California because they couldn’t afford the rent or even to buy a home and also start a family.”
Newsom rejected the idea that California is in decline, pointing out the state’s population growth and economy size.
“Yes, we have had hundreds of thousands of people move into California. The last two, three years, we have seen population growth. As you know, we moved from six to the fourth-largest economy in the world,” he noted.
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“And we dominate now in every key industry, from AI, quantum, robotics. We dominate in ag [agriculture]. We dominate in forestry. We dominate in manufacturing,” Newsom responded.
Bash pressed him on families struggling to afford daily expenses. Newsom pivoted to policy achievements.
He cited “$11 insulin” and universal health care efforts, noting the state raised the minimum wage for health care and fast-food workers. He also pointed to subsidized childcare.
“So we’re looking at it from both sides. That’s why we have a parents’ agenda that expanded paid sick leave and extended to eight weeks of paid family leave, all to support families, to address cost of living and to address the affordability crisis that goes back literally 70 years in California, for one reason,” Newsom said.
He acknowledged housing as a central failure. “We’re as dumb as we want to be on housing, and we haven’t been able to get out of our way. It explains more things in more ways and more ways of what’s wrong with our state.”
“And, finally, we moved forward with historic housing reforms that even our worst critics, including some on the left, like my friend Ezra Klein, acknowledged were the most progressive and perhaps most impactful reforms in a generation to finally address that issue,” he added.
Newsom then turned his focus to President Donald Trump, accusing him and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of harming the national economy.
On tariffs, Newsom argued that Trump should refund tariff revenue to American families with interest, claiming the administration has the technical ability to issue electronic repayments.
He criticized Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and pointed to recent economic data, including slower GDP growth, rising inflation and a weakened jobs market, which he blamed on what he described as a tariff-driven agenda built around mass deportations and tax cuts for billionaires.
He accused Trump of using tariff policy for personal benefit and calling the strategy an “unprecedented grift.”
Newsom referenced the recent Supreme Court decision on tariffs as a major setback for the administration.
When Bash noted that the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s tariffs and that the president was pivoting to new authorities to impose a 15% global tariff, Newsom questioned the stability of that approach.
He argued that businesses cannot plan long term with shifting tariff rates and said the uncertainty discourages companies from relocating factories to the United States.
Newsom said California sued early under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and maintained that the tariffs were illegal from the start.
He cited impacts on ranchers, farmers and small businesses in the Central Valley and reiterated that the federal government should return the collected funds.
