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Gavin Newsom hasn’t launched his rumored White House bid, but already has one deep-pocketed Hollywood billionaire fully in his corner.
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is all in on Newsom for president in 2028 — gushing over the publicity-loving California governor as a Democrat who can unify the flailing party and beat a Republican successor to President Donald Trump.
“Gavin is the candidate who can motivate both the left and the center,” Hastings told the LA Times.
The comments come as Newsom not-so-subtly lays the groundwork for a presidential bid — raising millions through a national committee, Campaign for Democracy, and hogging the spotlight on a coast-to-coast book tour through Democratic primary states.
But he may be competing with a fellow California Dem heavyweight — Kamala Harris, who leading early polls for 2028.
A YouGov survey conducted last month shows 25% of Democrats supporting Harris in a hypothetical primary, followed by Newsom at 12% and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg, both at 9%.
Donors have reportedly turned their backs on Harris, who said she is considering launching a third bid for the White House.
“There is an enormous appetite for new blood — something fresh, something that really represents the future, not the past,” one anonymous fundraiser told the LA Times.
Hastings, a Dem megadonor, previously backed Harris’ failed presidential bid with a $1 million donation to a pro-Harris PAC, Future Forward, but said he preferred her fellow California pol, Newsom, as a presidential nominee.
Hastings is one of Newsom’s most reliable donors, kicking in $2 million to his Prop. 50 redistricting campaign.
He called himself a “big fan of Gavin Newsom” last year, praising him as “a gifted political strategist and a futurist” to Politico.
English (US)