Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stopped short of throwing her support behind California Governor Gavin Newsom for president during an interview with MS NOW.
Speaking with Jacob Soboroff on Saturday, Bass, 72, said it was far too soon to offer an endorsement for Newsom.
Newsom, 58, has been widely rumored to be considering a future White House campaign.
“Way too early. We’ll see,” Bass said, even though the governor endorsed her reelection campaign just weeks earlier.
“Has he talked to you about that at all?” Soboroff asked in a follow-up question.
With a smile, the Los Angeles mayor gave a brief response: “No, not at all.”
Soboroff then shifted the conversation to another topic.
Moments earlier, he had framed the exchange by asking whether Newsom had endorsed Bass in her bid for another term.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, 72, said it was “way too early” to endorse Governor Gavin Newsom, 58, for a potential presidential campaign during a Saturday interview with MS NOW host Jacob Soboroff, despite Newsom recently backing her reelection bid.
Bass acknowledged she did receive the endorsement, during a competitive primary that included Democrats and Republicans earlier this year.
The win helped her to a November run-off election where she will face Democratic Socialist Nithya Raman.
‘Yes, yes, he did,’ said Bass.
Soboroff pointed out how the governor spoke to voters in South Carolina last week. Newsom made the appearance in Aiken to campaign for Democrats ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
‘He’s thinking about running for president,’ the host pointed out, before putting Bass on the spot.
‘Oh, my!’ she exclaimed. The reluctant non-answer followed.
Soboroff also pointed out how Raman, a local city councilwoman, had received an endorsement from The Democratic Socialists of America.
‘Nithya Raman, who has appeared on this broadcast before,’ Soboroff added – to which Bass replied: ‘I did not pursue that endorsement.’
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The governor spoke to prospective Democratic voters in South Carolina last week, as many believe him to be mulling a presidential run – Soboroff included
‘He’s thinking about running for president,’ the host pointed out, before putting Bass on the spot. He pointed out how Newsom endorsed her, before quickly moving on
She added: ‘I think in terms of their policies, they didn’t pursue me either – because they know that there’s not alignment there.’
Bass has been mayor of the City of Angels since 2022 and has faced criticism for the city’s homelessness crisis and her handling of January 2025’s Palisades Fire.
Bass cut fire department resources and later attempted to downplay reports about the city’s purported lack of preparedness in the disaster’s immediate aftermath. Bass was in Ghana at a presidential inauguration when the wildfires occurred.
Last May, Newsom, a more moderate Democrat, issued a formal statement endorsing Bass for a second term.
He cited a 14 percent to 18 percent cumulative drop in certain measures of homelessness over a two-year recovery period from 2022 to 2024, using the higher part of the range.
‘The work Karen Bass is doing in Los Angeles is making our entire state stronger, with an 18 percent decline in homelessness while it grew nationally, historic drops in violent crime, boosting film production in LA, and protecting our communities against ICE. She has my full support for reelection,’ Newsom said.
Statistics released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in August, moreover, showed 2026 rates moving back up – increasing 3.4 percent after two years of declines.
Newsom has yet to declare a run for the White House.
Bass has faced flak for her city’s high rates of homelessness and her response to last year’s wildfires. She is set to face of with a democratic socialist in November. The mayor maintained to Soboroff that she is more centrist
He and JD Vance have been frequently pitted against each other in a hypothetical 2028 head-to-head.
Newsom appeared to show his presidential aspirations while mocking Vance’s turn as a cohost on Fox News’ The Five back in June.
Journalist Aaron Rupar joked in an X post that Vance, 42, was ‘auditioning to be a Fox host apparently.’
‘Makes sense. JD is going to need a job in 2028 since he won’t be president,’ Newsom replied.
‘JD Vance can’t even defend Trump’s economy with a straight face,’ he wrote in another post that contained footage of an exchange Vance had earlier that month with the hosts of The View.
‘Maybe that’s because Americans are getting crushed by it. Gas. Groceries. Inflation. ALL UP!’ Newsom wrote.
‘These clowns are in over their heads.’