John Fetterman hits Gavin Newsom: 'Running for president' but doesn’t have 'the guts to announce it'

Senator John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) took a public swipe at Governor Gavin Newsom (D-California) during a recent speech in Iowa.

While speaking at an Iowa Democratic Party dinner, Fetterman brought up Rep. Dean Phillips' (D-Minnesota) as one of President Joe Biden's two primary opponents, who is currently in the midst of a quixotic long-shot bid for the White House. According to NBC News, the Pennsylvania senator also suggested Newsom was a separate primary opponent running a shadow campaign against Biden without filing formal paperwork.

"There are two additional Democrats... running for president right now," Fetterman said. "One is a congressman from Minnesota, the other one is the governor of California, but only one has the guts to announce it."

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Newsom, for his part, has endorsed Biden's reelection campaign, and said that even if the president were to drop out, he wouldn't run to replace him. As NBC News reported, Newsom is fueling speculation about his national ambitions after participating in a televised debate with Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) and traveling to China to discuss climate change with President Xi Jinping. Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy has taken similar jabs at Newsom, suggesting the California governor is testing the waters of the 2024 race without outwardly saying so.

"Let's be honest [about] what this is," Ramaswamy said in Iowa last week. "The man is running for president, doing it and doing it in disguise, doing it with a track record at a state that is more disastrous by the day."

While Rep. Phillips remains Biden's sole primary opponent, his chances of mounting a significant challenge are looking dimmer by the day. Following a disastrous town hall in New Hampshire, donors to Phillips' previous campaigns signaled that they wanted their money refunded, or at least guaranteed that money donated would not go toward his efforts to unseat President Biden.

"Nobody is going to give to him," Minneapolis-based Democratic Party donor Vance Opperman, who gave $5,800 to Phillips in 2021, told CNBC.

READ MORE: Gavin Newsom vs. Ron DeSantis: Who has the more appealing state?