Global Courant
Now he is carrying out the attack on Biden’s behalf.
Campaigns want surrogates to “do both supportive and affirmative messages around the dossier and agenda. You also want them to battle the other side,” said a Biden adviser from their emerging stable of influential surrogates, speaking freely on condition of anonymity. Speaking directly of Newsom, the consultant said, “Our view is that he has done both well.”
While it is customary for governors to stand behind their party’s president, Newsom has stepped up his efforts in recent months to show his allegiance and offer his services to help for 2024.
California’s governor hopped through the Bay Area for nearly 36 hours this week to greet Biden at the airport, speak about the government’s climate policy at a Palo Alto nature reserve, talk about artificial intelligence in San Francisco and co-headline being of a re-election fundraiser for the president all over the Golden Gate in the deep woods of Marin County.
Appearing before more than 100 donors gathered in Kentfield on Tuesday afternoon, Newsom praised and called Biden a “remarkable leader” who still needs another four-year term.
“I am here, Mr. President, as a proud American, as a proud California, mesmerized not only by your faith and commitment to this country and the world we are trying to build, but by your achievements, by your action, through your passion, through your ability to deliver,” he said.
Biden exchanged compliments with him from behind the microphone at the AI event, calling Newsom his “buddy” and “one of the best governors I’ve ever worked with.”
As the trip concluded on Wednesday, Biden advisers and several aides felt Newsom and Biden lift each other’s spirits during the visit. And officials in Washington were commenting on how well Newsom had fared, according to people with knowledge of the conversations.
According to aides and close allies, Newsom has been coordinating everything with Biden’s team, from his own PAC to national travel to even his big interviews — all with the idea of making sure he doesn’t get out of line with the party’s leader. Newsom has long personally maintained a strong relationship with Biden himself, but he previously rubbed some presidential aides and allies the wrong way by calling the Democratic Party as sluggish in the face of joint GOP attacks. Lately, he’s regularly checked in with Biden’s tight-knit circle of top advisers, and last year bonded over family and education policy with first lady Jill Biden on a trip to Washington.
“Government Newsom loves that man — loves him,” said Anthony York, a senior adviser to Newsom.
Newsom sees a role for himself in elevating Biden’s sweeping policy wins, such as infrastructure, veterans’ healthcare and computer chip legislation.
“He has a deep respect for him and truly believes that the things he has achieved – from the IRA to the (infrastructure bill) – are transformative pieces of legislation that will reshape our country for the next 50 years,” York said.
The Biden world, in turn, has come to see the boastful 55-year-old as a key ally, a younger official familiar with modern verbal combat and unafraid to offend the president’s greatest opponents. Referring to Newsom’s haymakers at former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the leading Republican candidates for 2024, the Biden adviser added, “That’s being a good surrogate. And appreciated.”
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who appeared at events with Biden and Newsom this week, said dealing with California’s recent spate of disasters, including historic drought and wildfires, helped the pair forge a closer relationship. “Steel comes from a lot of stress,” she said.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (right) said coping with California’s recent spate of disasters helped the couple forge a closer relationship. | Susan Walsh/AP’s photo
It’s too early to know how Newsom could be used in the campaign. He has used his own list of supporters to fundraise online and set up events. He traveled to Washington for Biden’s financial kickoff with national co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, telling aides he thought it was important to be there in person as an additional demonstration of his support.
Newsom helped raise about $2 million at Kentfield’s event Tuesday. His online fundraising total for Biden is approaching $500,000, an aide said.
It wasn’t always so copacetic between the two camps. In addition to earlier whispers about his presidential ambitions, Newsom’s anti-party broadsides fueled criticism that he was not a team player.
Last year, some White House officials and Biden’s allies were openly annoyed when Newsom went public after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision on abortion was leaked asking “Where the hell is my party?” The criticism came at a vulnerable time for Biden, who has been facing lingering questions about his age, facing what was expected to be brutal 2022 midterms and suffering from soft polls.
White House officials, DNC, and even the then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who is close to Newsom, took his words personally. Some accused him of greatness at their expense. The tension was more acute given Biden’s stumping for Newsom during the governor’s attempted recall.
Newsom and advisers stubbornly maintained that he never had any plans to challenge Biden in 2024 — and Newsom himself has repeatedly relayed that message to the White House. But tensions were still dormant. Then came the moment when the governor felt burned after Biden took the unusual step of passing a farmworkers’ union bill that Newsom had expressed skepticism about — hindering him in the process.
Some viewed the feud between the two Democrats as ironic, given that Newsom had managed to maintain a cordial rapport with Trump while in office.
“A lot of this was staff driven,” a person close to the Biden White House said of the couple. “At the most important level, it’s strong – and I would say it always has been. The president likes Gavin, and he likes the president.”
Newsom’s appearance on Hannity, as well as his frequent sparring with DeSantis, cemented within the Biden world the role the governor could play in taking the fight to GOP territory.
“Newsom pointed out that inflation was also high in other countries. He kind of melted Hannity’s brain,” another Biden advisor noted.
In the recent interview on Fox News, Newsom also portrayed a close relationship with Biden and said they communicate regularly. It was the kind of approach that helped build confidence among the president’s loyalists. And it hinted at Newsom’s effort to read them about his own political activities.
According to people familiar with the events, Newsom and aides tipped the White House around the launch of his political committee and asked for a supportive prepared statement from DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison. As Newsom toured the South, toured red states, and praised Biden’s work in areas where Democrats are scarce, Newsom steered clear of South Carolina — in part to avoid drama around 2024.
Newsom also briefed Biden advisers on his big national interviews, such as the one with Hannity, and offered a warning afterwards so they weren’t caught off guard by what he said. But it’s his broadsides that have received the most attention – inside and outside the White House.
“Gavin Newsom is enjoying the arena,” Eshoo said. “In politics you appreciate someone who not only knows how to throw a punch, but can also take a punch.”
