MS Now host claims Newsom’s ‘Hillary Clinton problem’ while discussing governor’s potential 2028 bid

WASHINGTON, D.C.: MS NOW host Chris Hayes believes Gavin Newsom, considered a potential Democratic candidate for the 2028 race, has a "Hillary Clinton problem.” Hayes made the remark while discussing possible 2028 candidates with The New York Times' Ross Douthat.

During Douthat’s ‘Interesting Times’ podcast, he said, “I think Newsom has the Hillary Clinton problem, which is that Hillary Clinton was perceived outside of the Democratic Party and Democratic coalition as the ultimate lib, the libbiest lib who ever lived, and was never actually like that much of a lib.”

Hillary ran for president as the Democratic candidate in 2016 but lost to Donald Trump.

Chris Hayes says Newsom does not share 'organic relationship' with Democratic Party

“It was like — and also had a record that was fairly centrist, particularly as a US senator,” Hayes claimed, adding, “And that’s like the worst uncanny valley for a Democratic politician to be in, where the base doesn’t trust you because you don’t have a kind of organic relationship with the left parts of the party. And then the swing voter just thinks like, that’s a lib.”

The commentator also told Douthat during the conversation that the Democratic Party needs a candidate who has authentic relationship with the party's left-wing base.

“I just think right now — and this could change — Newsom has the opposite set of factors. He has made very clear attempts to show that he’s bipartisan, centrist, independent,” Hayes said.

Chris Hayes says Newsom in 'tough place' for 2028 run

Though Hayes and Douthat agreed that Newsom has moved toward the center and the right through “substantive things he's done,” the 47-year-old news anchor also noted, “I haven’t seen evidence that that comes through. I just think there’s a reputational thing that’s very problematic. Also, the governor of California is a tough place to get the next Democratic nominee from.”

“The ideal situation you want, I think, if you’re designing this in a lab, is someone that has both a proven ability to speak to swing voters, the voters you need, and is also really good at attention. And the nightmare scenario in a Democratic primary is someone who’s bad at the former and good at the latter,” Hayes asserted.

Gavin Newsom says his family will decide if he will run for the office

Meanwhile, Newsom has not made any official announcement regarding a potential run.

However, he told CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union’ in February that the final decision will be made by his family. “My son, Romeo, was very powerful, texted me a few months ago, and there was some headline that suggested that I made some decision, and he goes, ‘Dad, are you running [for] president?” he revealed.

The politician added, “said, ‘No, we’ll do [the] decision as a family.’ He goes, ‘You can’t.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He goes, ’I’m too young. You need to spend more time with us.’ I mean, how do you deal with that one?”