Newsom embraces Biden in run-up to 2028 primary

Gavin Newsom is gambling that embracing Joe Biden will be more popular among Democrats than running away from him in the party's 2028 presidential primary.

Why it matters: The California governor — unlike most potential Democratic candidates for president — has spent the last 18 months courting Biden and his family, publicly defending the ex-president's legacy as others have distanced themselves.

• A Biden endorsement could be consequential. Many Democratic primary voters — especially Black and Latino voters — still have much affection for him, despite his unpopularity with the broader electorate.

Driving the news: Newsom has been an unapologetic defender of Biden's legacy and his family, citing his ability to pass big legislation with bipartisan support as well as his character — particularly in contrast to what Newsom calls Donald Trump's "childishness."

• "I'll never turn my back on Joe Biden," Newsom told a South Carolina crowd earlier this year.
• "One of the most successful presidents in the last century," Newsom told ABC News last fall in describing Biden, even as he acknowledged having differences with Biden's immigration policy, a liability for Democrats in 2024.
• Overall, the Biden administration was a "masterclass of policymaking," he told Axios in March.
• "I'm blessed to have gotten to know him, to defend him and defend his character, and continue to defend his record," he added.

Last week, Newsom hosted Hunter Biden on his podcast. The former president's son repeatedly alluded to Newsom becoming the next president.

• Paraphrasing one of his father's old lines, Hunter told Newsom: "I'll come campaign for you or against you, whatever helps most."

The intrigue: Joe Biden and his team currently feel much more warmly toward Newsom than most other potential 2028 candidates — including Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris.

• Harris sharply criticized Biden and former first lady Jill Biden in her book "107 Days" last year, writing that him running for reelection at age 81 was "recklessness."
• When read that excerpt during her own recent book tour, Jill Biden curtly told NBC's "Today" show: "That is her point of view and if she felt that way, she should have said it."
• Spokespeople for Biden and Newsom did not comment.

Harris has plenty of company among potential White House contenders in criticizing Biden's tenure and his decision to run again.

• "I want us to admit that the Biden administration made some pretty big mistakes," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) recently told Semafor's Dave Weigel.
• Earlier this year on the "Raging Moderates" podcast, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted how the Biden administration implemented — or didn't implement — some policies.
• "The Biden-Harris administration didn't provide those specific tangible things that people could see or feel. ... Do you know how many people ... this many years later, have been connected to high-speed affordable internet thanks to President Biden's law in Pennsylvania? Zero. Because the dollars were never driven out."

State of play: Biden remains an unpopular president among most Americans, but Black and Latino voters — key voting groups in a Democratic primary — are far more supportive of Biden.

• A CNN/SSRS poll taken last month found that 57% of Americans viewed Barack Obama positively, compared to just 30% who felt the same way about Biden.
• But the poll found that 53% of Black Americans had a positive view of Biden, and 40% of Latinos did as well. Just 23% of white Americans had a positive view of him.

The other side: There are some risks for Newsom in aligning with Biden, beyond the criticisms of Biden's administration.

• Newsom was one of the fiercest defenders of Biden's fitness for office after the disastrous June 2024 debate against Trump in which the president was unable to express complete thoughts.
• Last November on NBC's "Meet the Press," Newsom claimed he hadn't seen Biden act the way he did on the debate stage with "one exception, as it relates to the interaction I had with him, that gave me pause, one, was the fundraiser in Southern California. And all of us were a little taken aback."
• Newsom said he attributed that episode to Biden's intense travel schedule and jet lag.
• Asked by Axios in March whether he thought Biden could be president right now if he had been reelected, Newsom didn't directly answer but said that "the health issues have obviously accelerated," pointing to Biden's cancer diagnosis.