Nancy Pelosi wants Gavin Newsom in the White House. According to an Axios report, the 85-year-old former Speaker of the House believes the California governor would make a "great president" and has never shied away from endorsing him, publicly or privately.

One former Pelosi aide put it bluntly:

"She's a Gavin fan girl and she doesn't crush on many people. I will say this: She's hardly ever wrong. When she says she sees something, it's a real thing."

That's one way to frame nearly four decades of Washington power brokering: as a crush.

The San Francisco Pipeline

The Pelosi-Newsom alliance is less a political endorsement than a family affair, almost literally. Pelosi's brother-in-law was briefly married to Newsom's aunt, the NY Post reported. Both rose through San Francisco politics. Both built careers on the assumption that California's progressive experiment should be exported nationwide.

Pelosi is serving out her last term before stepping down this year. For the first time in decades, she won't wield House leadership power during a presidential election cycle. According to the Axios report, that freedom allows her to pick favorites before primaries, unburdened by the institutional constraints that previously required at least a veneer of neutrality.

And she's picking Newsom.

Pelosi previously told Vogue:

"I've seen him grow politically. I've also seen him have this beautiful family, and for all of us who love him, seeing him evolve has been wonderful to behold."

Watching Newsom "evolve" has been less wonderful for Californians dealing with the results.

Newsom's 2028 Audition

The governor is already running the playbook. Former aides say he is weighing a 2028 presidential bid, and his recent schedule reads like a candidate's dry run. Newsom spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He attended the Munich Security Conference. He has a memoir set to drop later this month.

Davos, Munich, a book tour. The international credential-building is unmistakable. Newsom is raising his profile in exactly the rooms where the global establishment decides who deserves to be taken seriously.

The question conservatives should ask is straightforward: on what record?

The Record That Pelosi Doesn't Mention

California under Newsom has become the nation's most visible cautionary tale. Homelessness metastasized in every major city. The state hemorrhaged residents and businesses to Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Tax burdens climbed while services deteriorated. Wildfires burned through communities year after year while state leadership blamed everything except decades of mismanaged forestry and permitting failures.

This is the governor that Pelosi believes should lead the country.

It's worth noting what the Axios report actually rests on: unnamed former aides and a single anonymous quote calling the former Speaker a "fan girl." No on-the-record statement from Pelosi herself endorsing a 2028 run. No comment from Newsom's office. The Post reached out to both for comment and apparently received none.

That silence is strategic. Newsom benefits from the Pelosi whisper network without committing to anything. Pelosi signals her preference without owning it formally. The entire arrangement runs on deniability while building momentum in the background.

What This Tells You About the Democrat Bench

The Democratic Party's 2028 field is shaping up to be a contest between governors of deep-blue states who have never had to win over a skeptical electorate. Newsom has never faced a competitive general election in his life. He governs the most progressive state in the union and still manages to disappoint its left flank on implementation while alienating everyone else on ambition.

Pelosi's endorsement, if that's what this amounts to, tells you something about how the party's elder statesmen view their future. They're not looking for someone who can win moderates in Michigan or Pennsylvania. They're looking for someone who performs well at Davos.

That instinct has cost them before. It will cost them again.

Pelosi sees something in Newsom. Californians who lived under his governance saw it too. They just drew a different conclusion.