President Biden on Gov. Newsom: "He could have the job I'm looking for"
SAN FRANCISCO -- President Biden fueled speculation Wednesday of California Governor Gavin Newsom's presidential plans by telling a packed room at the Asian Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) summit that the governor could have any job he wants -- even the presidency.
On Wednesday, at a welcome reception at the APEC summit, Biden thanked Newsom and went on to say he wanted to speak about the governor, who is a native of San Francisco where the conference is currently being hosted.
"I want to talk about Gov. Newsom. Want to thank him. He's been one hell of a governor, man. Matter of fact, he could be anything he wants. He could have the job I'm looking for," Biden said, getting laughter from the room in response.
Newsom has repeatedly denied speculation of plans to run against Biden for the 2024 nomination.
CBS13 Political Analyst Gary Dietrich said Biden's comments, with an international audience in front of multiple global leaders, was notably missing a mention of another Bay Area politician.
"Gavin Newsom's been a great attack dog for the Biden-Harris folks already. Apparently, that'll continue into 2024. He already dissed the former President as part of this, but I mean, your VP ran for this office herself, and presumably would still like it. It's quite a conundrum," said Dietrich.
A new Yahoo Poll found that 54% of Democrats polled say they want another Democrat to challenge Biden in the next election, and 28% of those surveyed said they don't want a new candidate for their party's 2024 nomination.