PALO ALTO, Calif. — When President Biden landed in California Monday, an elated Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) stood at the foot of Air Force One’s stairs to greet him.
The governor stepped out from the line of greeters and was the first to shake hands with the president. After speaking for a few seconds, the President patted Newsom on the chest before the two turned to greet others.
Newsom’s front-and-center approach during Biden’s trip reflects growing media exposure in recent weeks, which has reignited speculation about presidential ambitions.
The 80-year-old president and 55-year-old governor spent the afternoon together, first walking from the airport to a nature center, where they walked a bridge over San Francisco Bay ahead of an event. Then Newsom, standing on a podium with the president’s seal on it, praised Biden and said that no president has done more to fight climate change.
When the question arose whether Biden would run for re-election given his age and low approval rating, Newsom was considered a possible presidential candidate. Some even wondered if the governor would take the unprecedented and politically challenging step of making the president a primary.
But en route to the Golden State, where Newsom has been governor since 2019, the White House portrayed their relationship as nothing but positive.
“This is a governor who has supported the president’s agenda and his economic policies,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters from Air Force One Monday before landing in California. “That’s what you’re going to see from this president, and that’s what you’re going to see of his relationship – keep working – good working relationship.”
Neither Newsom nor the White House announced until days after the visit that the governor would accompany Biden at the event, let alone greet him at the airport.
Newsom has long been in the national spotlight — well beyond the sunny West Coast — but even more recently when he decided to crack down on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, over migrants from the Sunshine State to California were flown. He also made the notable decision to sit down for a one-on-one with Fox News host Sean Hannity — a broadcaster and host who hasn’t always been kind to Democrats.
Against the beautiful backdrop of Palo Alto’s San Francisco Bay, Newsom on Monday praised the president’s work with the Inflation Reduction Act to combat climate change. The two sat side by side, both in suits, no ties and baseball caps, and listened as an environmental student introduced the President.
Newsom stood and clapped as the President took the podium, where Biden then performed some of his signature bashings against certain Republicans.
“Unfortunately, some of our MAGA Republican friends in Congress are trying to undo the progress we’ve made,” the president said of his work on climate.
“We didn’t allow that,” Biden added.
The President then repeated a well-known statement that this was “not your father’s Republican Party” while making a campaign appeal to the few dozen people present at the nature center.
“With your help, we will stop them again,” Biden said.
The dynamic between Biden and Newsom was evident again as the president greeted some of the attendees, shaking hands and taking selfies while the governor looked on. Biden stood side by side with Rep. Anna Eshoo (Democrat of California), who introduced the President to a few guests, and Newsom stayed right behind them, smiling along.
Newsom has been involved in California politics since 2003 and has never served in Congress, while Eshoo has served in the House of Representatives since 2013 and is a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif).
The California stop showed how the White House and the Biden campaign appear to be using Newsom as an asset in 2024, an effort that could intensify if the governor becomes even more outspoken on immigration and criticizes some of his fellow Republican governors.
Newsom is expected to attend a campaign fundraiser with Biden while the president is in the San Francisco area, where the two hope to use their star qualities to rake in the Bay Area before Biden’s first 2024 campaign finance report arrives in July .
The report will be the first time Biden has outlined where he is getting support for his re-election to the White House. Other fundraising stops ahead of the report include other affluent, safe Democratic areas, including New York and Chicago.
