Gavin Newsom's Chances of Clinching 2028 Dem Nomination See Spike While Publicly Feuding With Trump Officials

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's chances of clinching the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination are seeing a spike as he feuds with Trump administration officials and MAGA influencers.

Ever since President Donald Trump came into office in January, Newsom has not hesitated to call out Trump officials or Republican lawmakers for sharing what he perceives as false narratives, whether it be about California or the Democratic party.

During the Palisades wildfires, the governor repeatedly took to X to call out and sometimes correct officials for information they were giving about the situation, and again with the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.

Over the last several days, Newsom has turned that fire to various officials on a variety of topics. He berated U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott, saying he made kids "pose for photos" after Scott posted about discovering teens working at a California marijuana facility.

On Tuesday, he called out Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for seemingly agreeing with Trump's push to stop bringing up questions about the Epstein files. Prior to that, Newsom put Vice President JD Vance on blast for taking a family vacation to Disneyland in California while Trump's administration was "gutting our Medicaid system" and "militarizing America's streets."

Newsom also slammed Texas Attorney General and candidate for Senate Ken Paxton for saying that legislators should be "arrested" if they refuse to do a job they were elected for after learning that House Democrats reportedly encouraged Texas House Democrats not to help Texas Republicans help redraw Congressional districts.

The governor's unrelenting fire against the Trump administration has led market predictors to view him as the top potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, according to the market prediction site Kalshi.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Newsom's chances of winning the presidential nomination was at 18%. Since May, the California governor has had a strong lead over the next two top contenders, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, whose chances stand at 13% and 10% respectively.

Newsom's lead over Ocasio-Cortez has continued to widen since July 6, when the Department of Justice and FBI's memo declaring that Epstein had "no client list" was released. He saw another spike on July 12 when he targeted Vance, and another spike July 16 following more calls for transparency on the Epstein files.

As policies by the Republican majority and Trump continue to raise concerns from Democratic lawmakers and constituents across the country, predictors appear to be taking into account how legislators are pushing back against the administration.