By Kim Lyons | Pennsylvania Capital-Star
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will campaign for President Joe Biden on Saturday at a rally in Bucks County, the Biden campaign said Wednesday.
Newsom’s appearance comes a day before the president and first lady Jill Biden appear in Philadelphia for their first joint Pennsylvania event since the June 27 presidential debate.
The Saturday morning Bucks County event, precise location still to be determined, will be a rally “slamming Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy and embrace of political violence,” according to the Biden campaign.
Newsom will appear with state Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), state Rep. Tim Brennan (D-Bucks), Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, and Ashley Ehasz, the Democratic candidate running to unseat U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st District).
Bucks County is widely viewed as the lone remaining swing county in the Philadelphia region, and is key for both presidential candidates. Biden beat Trump here in 2020, and Hillary Clinton eked out a win in Bucks County over Trump in 2016, but by a much smaller margin.
It’s not the first time Newsom has stumped for Biden in 2024; he’s been a frequent surrogate for the president’s reelection campaign, even telling NBC’s Meet the Press in February that it was because of Biden’s age “that he’s been so successful” as president.
But pundits have speculated that Newsom and a handful of other Democratic governors, including Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, are on the list of possible replacements for Biden on the Democratic ticket if he decided to step down. While it seems unlikely nearly a week later, after Biden’s poor performance during the first debate with former President Donald Trump, a near-constant chorus of columnists and Beltway insiders have suggested the 81-year-old Biden should step aside in favor of a younger alternative as Democrats’ nominee.
But Newsom has said he is not considering it.
“I would never turn my back on President Biden. Never turn my back on President Biden,” he said after the debate. “I don’t know a Democrat in my party that would do so. And especially after tonight, we have his back. We run not the 90-yard dash. We’re all in. We’re going to double down in the next few months.”
