Gavin Newsom handed Karen Bass a political lifeline.
Bass took the endorsement and pocketed it.
And what she said when asked to return the favor is something Newsom will not forget anytime soon.
Bass Leaves Newsom Hanging in Public
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appeared recently on MS NOW with anchor Jacob Soboroff, and the conversation quickly moved past her November runoff race and into territory that was a lot more uncomfortable for her.
Soboroff pointed out the obvious: California Gov. Gavin Newsom had just formally endorsed Bass for reelection, putting his name and political brand behind her campaign at a moment when she needed the boost. Then Soboroff asked whether Bass would return the favor if Newsom launches a 2028 presidential campaign.
Her response was not exactly a ringing declaration of loyalty.
“Oh, my!” Bass said. “It is way too early! Way too early!”
And when Soboroff pressed her further, she confirmed: “No, not at all.”
That is a pretty cold answer from someone who just accepted a high-profile endorsement from the man she is now declining to commit to. Newsom went out of his way to put his credibility on the line for Bass. His campaign release credited her with “an 18% decline in homelessness while it grew nationally, historic drops in violent crime, boosting film production in LA, and protecting our communities against ICE.” He closed it out simply: “She has my full support for reelection.”
Bass thanked him warmly in response, saying Newsom had been “a partner for Los Angeles at every turn.”
Apparently that partnership has its limits.
Newsom’s Presidential Ambitions Are Barely a Secret
The reason the question matters is that Newsom has been running a shadow presidential campaign in plain sight for months. He traveled to South Carolina recently as part of what his office called a “Take it Back Tour” across three Southern states, hitting ten counties in four days. Vendors were selling “Gavin 2028” buttons outside his events. People close to him were privately referring to a White House campaign as “the next thing.”
Newsom himself acknowledged to CNN during the South Carolina swing that he would be “lying” if he denied that 2028 was a factor in the trip, though he insisted it was further down his list of motivations. South Carolina was recently selected by the Democrat Party to host the first presidential primary of the 2028 cycle, which makes every trip Newsom takes there read like a campaign event whether he calls it one or not.
He has not formally announced. But the infrastructure of a campaign is clearly being assembled around him, and prominent allies have been openly referencing his national ambitions for some time.
So when Bass goes on national television and declines to say she will endorse him, that is not a small thing inside Democrat politics. It is a signal — whether she intended it that way or not — that even figures who owe Newsom a political debt are not lining up behind him.
The DSA Factor and What It Reveals About Bass’s Situation
There is another layer to this that the Soboroff interview brought out. Bass is heading into a November runoff against City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who advanced past a crowded primary field that also included former reality television personality Spencer Pratt.
The DSA’s Los Angeles chapter officially endorsed Raman for the runoff, committing volunteers and organizational resources to her effort to unseat Bass. That endorsement came despite some internal tension within the organization — Raman had previously been censured by the DSA over her acceptance of an endorsement from Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles.
Soboroff asked Bass directly whether she would have accepted a DSA endorsement herself. Her answer was equally direct: “I did not pursue that endorsement. And I think in terms of their policies, they didn’t pursue me either, because they know that there’s not alignment there.”
That is actually the most honest thing said in the entire interview. Bass and the openly Marxist DSA are not aligned. The DSA’s own platform calls for government seizure of major corporations, abolition of the Senate, replacement of the presidency and Supreme Court with bodies subordinate to Congress, and the creation of a classless society. These are not fringe eccentricities — they are the stated goals of the organization now backing Raman’s campaign to run the second largest city in America.
Bass at least had the clarity to say she did not want their endorsement. That is more than most California Democrats are willing to say about an organization whose ideology is a direct threat to the constitutional order.
But her willingness to distance herself from the DSA while declining to commit to Newsom tells you something about the political tightrope she is walking. She needs to win a general election in a city where Raman’s socialist base has real organizational muscle. Endorsing a centrist-ish California governor who has spent years in public fights with the Left is not necessarily the move she wants to make right now.
What the Dodge Actually Means
Bass’s “way too early” answer is the kind of thing that sounds reasonable on its face but lands differently in context. Newsom just handed her his endorsement. The least she could have done was offer some version of “I look forward to supporting him if he runs.” She did not do that.
And Newsom is not exactly in a strong position to demand loyalty right now. His California record is the central liability of any national campaign he runs. The same fires that scorched Bass’s approval ratings in Los Angeles burned through Newsom’s national image too. A March 2026 poll found that 56% of Los Angeles residents held unfavorable views of Bass — and Newsom was the governor who had been defending her record and her city’s management even as both took fire for the disaster response.
Bass was out of the country when the fires broke out. Newsom was blamed for a state water policy that critics said contributed to shortages that hampered firefighters. Neither of them came out of that episode looking competent, and both are now trying to rehabilitate their standing while pretending the fires did not expose serious failures of California’s governing class.
That is the real subtext of this interview. Two California Democrats, both badly damaged by the consequences of the policies they championed, are now carefully managing their distance from each other while publicly performing solidarity. Newsom endorsed Bass. Bass said thank you. And when asked whether she would return the favor, she said it was way too early — which is the political equivalent of changing the subject.
The 2028 Democrat primary is shaping up to be a crowded field. Newsom is among several figures taking early steps, alongside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, according to reporting on the emerging field. None of them have formally announced. All of them are watching each other.
But Newsom is the one who went to South Carolina three times in a single midterm cycle. He is the one with vendors selling buttons outside his events. He is the one who acknowledged to CNN that the 2028 factor was real. And he is the one whose most recent high-profile endorsee just went on national television and declined to commit to backing him.
That is not a great week for a man who has not even officially announced yet.
Sources: Mediaite, “Oh My! LA Mayor Karen Bass Demurs When Asked If She’ll Endorse Gavin Newsom For President Months After He Backed Her Campaign”; CBS News Los Angeles, “Gov. Gavin Newsom endorses Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for reelection days ahead of primary”; NBC News, “Nithya Raman advances over Spencer Pratt to face L.A. Mayor Karen Bass in a runoff”; Bloomberg, “Nithya Raman Gains DSA-LA Endorsement in Los Angeles Mayor Race”; AP/WSPA, “Gavin Newsom tests waters in South Carolina ahead of 2028”; San Francisco Chronicle, “In South Carolina, Gavin Newsom makes an early play for 2028 voters”
