Biden Campaign Assigns Newsom to Represent Democratic Side at GOP Debate

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom will attend next week’s Republican presidential debate to serve as a defender of President Joe Biden’s progressive policies, Axios reported.

Biden’s reelection campaign is deploying Newsom to Wednesday’s debate in Simi Valley, Calif., Axios reported Friday.

The outlet said the GOP debate is the latest instance of the Biden campaign trying to push a contrast between “Bidenomics” and what it’s calling “MAGAnomics.”

Newsom, who has been mentioned as a possible Democrat presidential nomination contender if Biden drops out, told The New York Times and other media outlets earlier this month that it was time for the party to rally around the president.

“The train has left the station,” Newsom told the Times. “We’re all in. Stop talking. He’s not going anywhere. It’s time for all of us to get on the train and buck up.”

Although former President Donald Trump said he will not attend the second debate — he also skipped the first one last month — Biden’s campaign is deploying top officials to produce spin to offset what willl be heard during the debate.

Campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez and others will contrast Biden’s agenda with what they call “MAGA Republicans’ extreme and out of touch views.”

The debate will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and hosted by Fox Business and Univision, so the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is focusing its messaging on economics and Latino voters, Axios reported.

Chávez Rodríguez and DNC chair Jaime Harrison will host Latino organizing events, including one focused on Latino men, Biden campaign advisers told Axios.

A Biden adviser also told Axios the DNC will hire a plane to fly over Southern California reading “2024 GOP: A Race for the Extreme MAGA Base.”

“The campaign response builds off the strong and effective plan from the first debate with a clear north star: Push back on Republicans’ lies and highlight their extremism at every turn,” Biden reelect spokesperson Kevin Munoz told Axios.

NBC News reported last month that Newsom’s growing profile has annoyed some of Vice President Kamala Harris’ allies.