As President Joe Biden faces calls to step down from atop the Democratic ticket, his campaign dispatched one of its top surrogates to swing states over the weekend hoping to douse concerns Biden is too old to effectively serve four more years. 

That surrogate: California Governor Gavin Newsom.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Newsom spent the holiday weekend in the swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, doubling down on his support of President Biden as some fellow Democrats call for the president to step down from the top of the ticket

  • “Joe Biden is our president. He said he’s all in. I doubled down and I’m all in. And not only that, I’m here with you to prove it,” Newsom told reporters

  • One analyst said Newsom’s steadfast support of Biden shows the California politico is a “team player”

Newsom left the Golden State ahead of the July 4th holiday, hours after pulling his own crime proposition measure from the ballot, to head to Washington for a White House meeting between Democratic governors, the president and Vice President Kamala Harris. The governors, joining both virtually and in person, were seeking reassurance from the president after his poor debate performance that he was up for the job.

Newsom told voters throughout the weekend, with stops in Michigan and Pennsylvania, he got the reassurances he needed.

“I mean this with absolute conviction: that was the Joe Biden I remember from two weeks ago. That was the Joe Biden, that I remember from two years ago. That’s the Joe Biden that I am looking forward to reelecting as the United States,” he told a crowd on the front lawn of a South Haven, Michigan home.

Newsom, a rising star within the Democratic party, spent the holiday weekend hopscotching the swing states and even spent Monday in New Hampshire. He’s been floated as a potential replacement for Biden should he decide to step down from the ticket. 

Yet Newsom remains steadfast in his support for President Biden.

“Joe Biden is our president. He said he’s all in. I doubled down and I’m all in. And not only that, I’m here with you to prove it,” Newsom told reporters at the event.

“Gavin Newsom has a reputation of being ambitious, maybe a little overly ambitious. Gary Hart, the former senator and former presidential candidate, once said that ambition should be like the shirts leaves of a gentleman’s suit, just enough should be visible to know that it’s there, but not so much that it’s that noticeable,” observed Michael Genovese, a political science professor and President of Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. “A number of commentators have said that Newsom is too opportunistic, too ambitious, and this refutes that. This makes him look like, no, he’s a party player, he’s a team player, and he’s backing the horse that he rode in with.”

Genovese says with Newsom on the trail for Biden, it quells questions about whether the California politico is looking to jump in the race. And perhaps it sets him up for success for a future bid if Newsom pursues the White House in another cycle.

“He has a very bright future, because he’s a prominent governor from California. He’s telegenic, he’s smart, he has a lot of good backing. He has a lot of big donors, and so almost by default, he becomes one of the candidates at point x. He’s got a very good political future,” assured Genovese.

But don’t expect Democrats to pick Newsom over Harris if Biden were to decide not to finish out the campaign.

“It would be very hard for the Democrats to say to a woman and a minority who is the vice president, who won the primaries with Joe Biden, that you can’t have the nomination.”

Newsom’s term will expire in Jan. 2027 — perfect timing for a potential White House run in 2028.

The door will likely remain open for Newsom until he’s ready to announce his aspirations for the future.