WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom have yet to fully mend their strained relationship after she revealed in her new book that he didn’t take her call after President Biden ended his bid for a second term.
The two potential rivals for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination were sworn in on the same day — he as San Francisco’s mayor and she as the city’s district attorney — more than two decades ago.
These days, their relationship is marked by awkwardness and friction, according to a new profile of Harris published by the New York Times.
The former VP struck the first blow in her campaign memoir “107 Days,” in which she stated that Newsom missed her call as she moved to shore up the support of key Democrats after Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on July 21, 2024.
“Hiking. Will call back,” Newsom texted her in response, per Harris’s telling.
“He never did,” she noted in the tome.
The governor’s team team has given varied accounts of why Newsom was out of picket, with the man himself saying he was exercising on a treadmill and an aide later clarifying Newsom was on a treadmill and then went on a hike.
After published excerpts from Harris’ book detailed the anecdote, Newsom defended himself by noting that he quickly endorsed the veep after Biden dropped out.
In an October interview with videogame streamer ConnorEatsPants, Newsom revealed that he texted Harris to ask her why she included the missed call story in “107 Days” and received the following response: “On book tour. Get back to you later.”
“Anyway, that’s the relationship,” the governor added with a chuckle.
Newsom, who campaigned aggressively for Biden before the 46th president abruptly dropped out, declined to give a speech at last year’s Democratic National Convention, where Harris was crowned as the party’s nominee.
The outgoing California governor currently enjoys a 5.8 percentage point lead in national polling of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
“He has to make that decision if he wants to first,” Harris told the Times of the prospect of Newsom running in 2028, later adding: “I think Gavin is very talented. I really do. And I think we have many talented people.”
Harris, who passed on a run to succeed Newsom as California governor next year, has been coy about her plans for 2028, but insisted to the Times that she has little left to prove.
“I understand the focus on ’28 and all that,” she reflected. “But there will be a marble bust of me in Congress. I am a historic figure like any vice president of the United States ever was.”
Marble busts of US vice presidents are stationed in the Senate wing of the Capitol, in reference to their constitutional function as president of the Senate.
