John Fetterman says Gavin Newsom is lowkey running for president against Joe Biden but doesn't have 'the guts' to announce it and go all in

• Sen. John Fetterman says Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn't want to admit that he's running for president.
• Fetterman talked about Newsom during an Iowa Democratic Party dinner on Saturday, per NBC News.

Sen. John Fetterman says Gov. Gavin Newsom of California doesn't have "the guts" to admit that he's running a shadow campaign for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.

"There are two additional Democrats running for Pennsylvania, excuse me, running for president right now," Fetterman said at an Iowa Democratic Party dinner on Saturday, per NBC News.

"One is a congressman from Minnesota, the other one is the governor of California, but only one has the guts to announce it," Fetterman continued, referencing the presidential ambitions of Rep. Dean Phillips and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Phillips, a South Carolina Democratic official, launched his presidential bid in October.

Meanwhile, speculation has swirled about a Newsom 2024 run, despite the governor saying in 2022 that he doesn't plan to bid for the Oval Office.

"Not happening, no, no, not at all," Newsom said when asked about his political ambitions at the September 2022 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.

Newsom also told Politico in November 2022 that he'd informed the White House that he wouldn't be challenging Biden in 2024.

"I hope he runs, I'll enthusiastically support him," Newsom said of Biden then.

But Newsom has been shoring up his foreign policy platform and public profile.

In October, he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a weeklong trip to China. Newsom is now the only American governor who's met Xi in the last six years amid strained US-China ties.

Newsom also plans to debate a GOP presidential hopeful on primetime TV — his political foil and longtime nemesis, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis accepted Newsom's challenge for a primetime debate back in August. The debate, set to take place on November 30, will be hosted by Fox News' Sean Hannity.

It's also worth noting that nearly a year after vociferously denying that he plans to run for president, Newsom didn't rubbish the idea when asked about it on 60 Minutes in September.

"You may be termed out here, but does cleaning up the streets of California factor into a potential presidential run?" "60 Minutes" correspondent Cecilia Vega asked the governor.

"I'm never going to overpromise that in the short run. I mean, we are struggling in this state. Housing and homelessness," Newsom replied.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Vega said.

"That was a — that was a never-ending response to your question," Newsom said.

Representatives for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.