Joe Biden made reference to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s apparent “shadow” presidential campaign, joking that he could take his job.
“I want to thank him. He’s been one hell of a governor, man,” Biden said in remarks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference. “Matter of fact, he can be anything he wants — he could have the job I’m looking for.”
That Biden thinks Newsom’s record is worth celebrating as his state leads the nation in population loss is telling.
If Newsom does jump in the 2024 race, he’ll be the second primary challenger that Biden is facing after Rep. Dean Philips.
Assuming Biden emerges victorious in the Democrat primary, he faces the risk of having some of his vote share siphoned off from Robert F. Kennedy’s Independent run, and there’s also the possibility that the “No Labels” party runs their first candidate, which would likely be Joe Manchin. Just yesterday Manchin said he would “absolutely” consider running for president when pressed by NBC’s Kristen Welker, citing both his opposition to Joe Biden’s far-left agenda, and complaints about Donald Trump being mean, and farcical concerns about the “end of democracy.”
“I will do anything I can to help my country, and you’re saying, ‘Does that mean you would consider it [running for president]?’ Absolutely,” Manchin told Welker. “Every American should consider it if they’re in a position to help save the country,” Manchin added, giving himself some wiggle room in the event that he doesn’t run.
Last week, Manchin announced that he wouldn’t be running for reelection to the Senate in 2024.
Matt Palumbo is the author of Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers: How the Left Hijacked and Weaponized the Fact-Checking Industry and The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros
