Gavin Newsom got a spanking from the Democratic party and its diversity police as he appeared to ready a presidential run earlier this year, NBC reported.

The ambitious California governor was duly warned not to step on Kamala Harris' birthright ahead of the 2024 election, according to the report.

Newsom gets a lecture...

Given Joe Biden's obvious cognitive decline and Harris' own incompetence - which almost makes Biden appear coherent by comparison - some have seen Newsom as a potential heir apparent to the president.

But Biden allies "have not been shy" about bullying "ambitious white male candidates" out of "snatching" the nomination from Biden and Harris, "who made history as the first woman and person of color to become vice president," the article says.

Those white men got "a little bit of a smack in the face," Democratic strategist Karen Finney said.

“When you had people who were trying to test the waters...the party rose up and made it clear to those individuals — who were mostly white men — that to disrespect the vice president would not be well received by women and people of color within the party."

"Disrespectful"

There is this one wrinkle: Joe Biden is a white male. Doesn't this mean he should resign?

It almost appears as if Democrats are using Harris as moral blackmail to ward off Biden's challengers.

But given the likelihood that Biden would step aside in a second term, keeping Biden on the ticket is likely Harris' best - and only - hope of getting Biden's job.

While Newsom has pledged to support Biden in 2024, the governor has rankled the president by going off-script and challenging Ron DeSantis to a debate.

The Harris circle sees Newsom's planned debate with DeSantis as "disrespectful" to her status as Biden's heir apparent, NBC reported.

"It's disrespectful," an outside adviser to Harris said. "Joe Biden is running with Kamala Harris. That's the Democratic ticket."

Diversity police

Newsom has also attracted the attention of the diversity police with his pledge to replace Senator Dianne Feinstein with a black woman. It's still unclear how that one will shake out, but the left is watching closely.

As far as 2024 goes, Democrats are speeding towards a coronation, seeing a divisive primary as pointless and harmful to their efforts to control the White House.

Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) said Democrats "cannot afford to make a move that does anything to hurt the prospects for Joe Biden to be president of the United States."

She expressed confidence that Newsom is willing to play ball.

“Every impression I’ve had from him in our conversations was that this is not a place he was interested in going,” Pelosi said.