Elex Michaelson: Newsom Tells White House He Won’t Run in 2024

Elex Michaelson, Fox 11 KTTV Los Angeles anchor and host of The Issue Is:, said on Sunday that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had traveled to Washington, DC, to reassure Biden administration officials that he was not planning on challenging President Joe Biden for the presidency in 2024.

Michaelson said said some of Newsom’s staff told him off record that the California governor is not planning on challenging Biden in a Democrat primary for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

“Talking to his team off the record, it seems like he and Biden are close,” he said on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.

Regarding Newsom’s visit to the White House in Washington, D.C., last week. Michaelson said that part of the purpose for the visit was to convey that he is not running for president in 2024.

“So I don’t think that [Newsom] or [Illinois Democratic Governor] J.B. Pritzker or any of these other governors around the country who are enjoying their sort of 15 minutes the fame right now are wanting to primary Joe Biden,” Michaelson assessed.

Michaelson interviewed Newsom in the Capitol during the California governor’s trip.

Michaelson said White House staffers told him off the record that Biden will run for a second presidential term.

He remarked, “It was interesting talking to a lot of different people off the record working at the White House, who all insist that Joe Biden is running again or planning on it, which would mean that there isn’t a Gavin Newsom run. Even if Joe Biden doesn’t, then [Newsom] would have to run against Kamala Harris, who is somebody that he’s worked closely with, and they have similar consultants and all the rest of it.”

He continued, “I know a lot of those consultants think that [Newsom] may run against [Harris] and that’s not a huge issue, but still, that would be quite a move to run against the first female black vice president and try to beat her in states like South Carolina, which has elevated importance the next time around, wouldn’t necessarily be smooth sailing for him or an easy shoo-in terms of a run.”