It has been a seriously bad last few days for Gavin Newsom as he seeks to distinguish himself from the numerous other prominent Democrats who are said to also be contemplating a 2028 presidential run.
There was the California governor embarrassingly feigning ignorance over how to find or obtain a copy of his birth certificate, as the debate over the SAVE America Act continues. Much worse, he went Full Metal Racist in the eyes of critics while trying to make inroads with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who was interviewing Newsom, and the audience Newsom was speaking in front of about his dyslexia on Sunday in Georgia.
"I'm not trying to impress you. I'm just trying to impress upon you, I'm like you. I'm no better than you. I'm a 960 SAT guy," Newsom proclaimed. "And I'm not trying to offend anyone and act all there if you got 940, but literally a 960 SAT guy....You've never seen me read a speech because I cannot read the speech. Maybe the wrong business to be in."
Oops.
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Newsom and his infamously unhinged comms staff are currently in meltdown mode in response to the backlash.
But unfortunately for them, it got worse on Tuesday when CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten revealed on a News Central segment just how badly Newsom was "flailing" amid a low enthusiasm problem among prospective Democrat presidential candidates, including former veep Kamala Harris.
"This is just a downright clown car at this point," Enten observed:
ENTEN: ... this is just a downright clown car at this point on the Democratic side. I mean, just take a look here. Top choices for the 2028 Dem Pres nominee. You have a leader, but it's not really a clear leader. It's within the margin of error. You have Newsom at 19 percent. Then you have former Vice President Kamala Harris at 18 percent.
Quite a weak number for her, given that, of course, she was the nominee last time around. Pete Buttigieg, who, of course, has run before, 13 percent. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 12 percent. This is just a total clown car. It is a total mess. There is no clear frontrunner at this particular point on the Democratic side.[...]
This is very unusual for the Democratic side to not have a clear front runner at this point. National Early poll leader at, at least 25 percent. Look at this. This year, we get the giant question mark, no one, no one, no one, no one.
[...]
You have to go all the way back, all the way back from when I wasn't even in elementary school yet, not even in pre-K yet, to 1992 that was the last cycle in which there was no clear front runner at this point. Very unusual.
Enten went on to note that interest in Newsom had dropped substantially since the summer of 2025:
Newsom is the 2028 Democrat nominee three months ago, according to the Kalshi prediction market, look at that. It was a 37 percent chance. Now it's just a 28 percent, down he goes. He's definitely flailing a little bit. And I will note, John, I will note that it also seems to me, people are a little less interested in Gavin Newsom than they used to be.
Look at this. Google searches for Gavin Newsom down 63 percent from the August peak. You remember back then? It was when he started that social media right going after President Trump, there was a lot of interest from Democratic voters, but maybe that interest is waning off just a little bit. And of course, you don't necessarily want to wane it off just yet, because I think we still have a lot of time for the votes, right?
Watch:
Re: Newsom... It's a downright clown car/mess for the Dems ahead of 2028...
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) February 24, 2026
No one is close to clearing 25% in early national polling for the first since the 1992 cycle.
Newsom is flailing a bit after a hot summer, as interest in him on Google is down over 60% from August. pic.twitter.com/9bKkgehULQ
There is, of course, plenty of time for Newsom to course-correct ahead of the Democrat primaries, but if history is a reliable indicator, he's more of a "double down" kinda guy, so his implosion is unlikely to end anytime soon - and RedState will be here for it.
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