SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Is Governor Gavin Newsom planning a run for president?
It's a question people are asking after he ran advertisements on Florida TV stations over the weekend and trolled former President Donald Trump on Truth Social.
Political analyst Steve Swatt says a run for president is in Newsom's DNA.
"California governors seem to want to increase their national profile once they become governor," said Swatt. "Ronald Reagan certainly did. Of course, later on, Jerry Brown ran for president. Pete Wilson ran for president. Even George Deukmejian when he was governor was being mentioned as a potential vice presidential nominee with President George H.W. Bush."
So even if Newsom is saying 'no' right now, recent actions would indicate it’s not out of the question, according to Swatt.
When political reporter Morgan Rynor asked Newsom if he planned to run for national office after criticizing the National Democratic Party for not doing enough on abortion issues, this was his response:
“It has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with every one of us needs to do everything in our power to wake people up and sober people up to what what's going on in this country."
But Newsom paid for advertisements to run in Florida and spends time posting on former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social, so it’s a fair question.
Swatt says it's a question Newsom should fully expect.
“This is a sort of a campaign tactic where he's taking the fight directly to Republicans," he said. "I think nationwide, a number of Democrats who believe that their party's messaging is lacking, might find this interesting.”
Some Democrats -- like Florida's Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running to replace Governor Ron DeSantis -- took to Twitter saying she can handle her own fight.
“The Biden camp is probably looking over its shoulders in some respect because the approval ratings of the president are low,” added Swatt.
Newsom has been careful not to say he’s running.
“Even if you take him at his word that he is not, there is always something down the road that may change in politics and two years, six years, anything can happen in that time. So building up a national profile, I'm sure he believes is a good idea," said Swatt.
Swatt says part of the reason Newsom is doing this is because he's extremely safe in California headed into the November election.
Republicans have laughed off this attempt. DeSantis’ own press secretary tweeted California is not going to get all of its U-Hauls back from all the people who left the state for Florida.
