California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the race, making the comment during a fly-fishing interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper filmed in Montana more than a month ago.
“Of course not. Why would I?” Newsom said when Tapper asked whether he’d challenge Harris in a Democratic primary. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do it to me. Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. Who needs that?”
Tapper pressed further, suggesting Newsom could run if he wanted to. Newsom responded that a primary matchup against Harris would be “mutually assured destruction” and would amount to a “gift from God for everybody else” — an apparent reference to those hoping a Democrat does not win the presidency.
“I know her base of supporters. I know her friends,” Newsom said of Harris, the former U.S. senator from California. “The zen diagram (sic) on that is just pure crossover. It’s not — I wouldn’t do that to — I wouldn’t do that to people,” he said, appearing to mix up the term “Venn diagram” with the Buddhist meditation practice of Zen.
The video, which shows Newsom and Tapper standing in shallow water casting fly reels while discussing politics, drew heavy criticism online for appearing staged.
Online reaction
An X user named Sam Alberti asked, “why is newsom fly fishing in business casual?” Another user with more than 55,000 followers wrote: “How lucky are we that a camera crew just happened to be standing in a Montana river while two guys who can’t cast pretended to fly fish. Totally organic. Not staged at all. CNN is doing the Lord’s work trying to make Newsom look like a regular dude. Herculean task.”
Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross zeroed in on Newsom’s phrasing, writing, “The best part of this is when Newsom says ‘Zen diagram’ when he was talking about a Venn diagram.” A separate account with 1.7 million followers called the segment “absolutely hilarious.”
“This is the most Gavin Newsom-ish fishing video ever — the French Laundry of fishing!” — Kenneth Baer, referencing Newsom’s 2020 dinner at the upscale Napa Valley restaurant during pandemic restrictions his own administration had imposed.
Economist Nick Messenger offered a sarcastic take on the setup: “‘Let’s do this interview surrounded by an entire film and sound crew in the river. Yeah, yeah, that’ll make us seem like nature guys.'”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
