Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked President Joe Biden, who announced Sunday he would withdraw from the presidential race, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take up the mantle for Democrats in defeating former President Donald Trump in November. “With our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President,” Newsom said in a post on X on Sunday afternoon. He also described Harris as “Tough. Fearless. Tenacious.” The endorsement of his fellow Californian came hours after he first acknowledged Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.
“President Biden has been an extraordinary, history-making president — a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans,” Newsom posted Sunday morning. “He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.” Newsom had previously pledged to back Harris if she were to run for president or become the nominee.
He affirmed that commitment earlier this month saying “of course” he would support her. Biden, facing increasing pressure from within his own party to step aside, announced his decision shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday and quickly endorsed Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee. At least three dozen Democratic elected officials had publicly called for the president to drop out in the days and weeks following his first debate against Republican nominee Trump, during which he repeatedly trailed off and appeared to lose his train of thought.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.
” Biden said he would “speak to the Nation later this week in more detail” about his decision. As Biden has struggled these past few weeks, Newsom emerged as a top possibility for Democrats to replace Biden if he were to drop out.
In endorsing Harris, Newsom signaled he would not challenge her ahead of the Democratic National Convention in late August. Newsom has previously insisted he does not want the job, and sought instead to keep Democrats focused on defeating Trump, firmly backing Biden after the first debate when questions about the president’s mental acuity broke into the open.
“We aren’t going to turn our backs because of one performance. What kind of party does that?” he wrote in a fundraising email the morning after the debate.
As calls for Biden to step aside grew louder in the weeks following the debate, Newsom remained a top defender for the president. He traveled to swing states to campaign for him and defended Biden in the media.
With Biden out of the running, Harris is best positioned to become the party’s front-runner, though some Democrats including Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi have reportedly expressed support for an open convention to choose a replacement.
By Sunday afternoon, many Democratic elected officials rallied around Harris as the presumptive nominee. In recent weeks, Newsom has sought to redirect critiques of Biden and to the possibility of a second Trump term, comparing the presidential race as one between “light and darkness.” “The contrast is profound,” he said earlier this month.
“It’s a matter of character, decency and honor. Contrast that with the darkness that is Donald Trump.” Newsom said “no state has more to lose” than California if Trump is reelected, citing the federal government’s ability to block California’s strongest-in-the-nation vehicle emissions standards and further restrict abortion and other reproductive rights. “Millions and millions of women (will) be denied basic freedoms and access,” he said. “That’s the world we’re living in under Donald Trump. … This is a consequential moment for all Californians and all Americans.”
