AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
- Gavin Newsom on Monday praised Kamala Harris as "absolutely" the best running mate for Biden.
- Newsom made the statement during a CNN interview, where he praised the administration's accomplishments.
- The outspoken California governor is widely seen as a future Democratic presidential contender.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday gave a full-throated endorsement of the Democratic presidential ticket, arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris was "absolutely" the best running mate for President Joe Biden next year.
When asked by CNN's Dana Bash whether Harris was the "best person to be on the ticket" with the president, Newsom was unequivocal in his support for his fellow Californian.
"Of course she is," Newsom said. "Biden-Harris administration, master class in terms of performance — bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act."
"If I think this administration in the last 2.5 years has been one of the most outstanding administrations in the last few decades, and she's a member of that administration, she gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success. The answer is absolutely," he continued.
Newsom is widely thought of as a future Democratic presidential contender and the visible backing of Biden and Harris will likely go a long way with the administration as they seek to quell some of the concerns that many party voters have regarding the president's age. And it would also tamp down much of the chatter about a political rivalry between Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor and ex-lieutenant governor, and Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and ex-California attorney general.
While Democratic voters lined up behind Biden in 2020 and are poised to do so again, they have some misgivings about the president, who is 80 years old and would be 82 at the start of a potential second term in 2025.
In an August survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 69% of Democrats indicated that Biden would be too old to be effective for another term. And while 55% of Democrats indicated that they didn't want to see the president run again, 82% said they'd likely support him should he emerge as the 2024 nominee.
So the spotlight on Harris has been even stronger in recent months, as some Democrats have questioned whether she'd be the party's best standard-bearer in 2028 or even earlier — should Biden for whatever reason need to step down before the end of a potential second term.
And Newsom, who's now in his second term in office, has been huge backer of the administration and has been a key campaign surrogate since Biden launched his reelection bid earlier this year.
In June, the governor refuted any talk that he would challenge Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, a scenario that had been raised by many political observers.
"Not on God's green earth, as the phrase goes," he told The Associated Press at the time. "I have been pretty consistently — including recently on Fox News — making the case for his candidacy."