Newsom is going to sit with Hannity and likely talk guns. That’s must-watch TV | Opinion

The news that Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing an interview with the intellectually dishonest Trump-enabler Sean Hannity is a bit of a surprise.

The interview will be conducted June 12, which is the first time the governor has appeared on the Fox News talking head’s program since — are you sitting down? — 2010. Why, California even had a Republican governor then.

That Newsom is appearing on this show isn’t all that surprising, given his flurry of statements, pronouncements, proposals and general staying-in-the-news-cycle this week.

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He may also be calculating that taking his gun point of view to a hard-right talk show will get his message out best to those who love rapid-fire assault weapons.

As Newsom has noted to The Bee and many, many other outlets, he isn’t actually running for president, per se. But he’s doing something.

With Democrats privately and publicly fretting about their enthusiasm level for the candidacy of the 80-year-old President Joe Biden, who has performed admirably for two-and-a-half years, it’s probably not surprising that Newsom is keeping a lot more than a toe in the 2024 water. He’s waist-deep and immersing fast.

Note that the current vice president of the United States, California’s Kamala Harris (remember her?), would also be a relevant candidate in 2024, should the opportunity arise. We wonder what her hot take on all this Newsom activity might be.

The opportunity to hear from her hasn’t arisen just yet.

We don’t have a problem with Newsom appearing on Hannity. It should be a rollicking good time.

What is a problem is that there are a lot of other California media venues that he could also appear on or be interviewed by. Hey! Over here? California! We’re the fourth-largest economy and have lots of newspapers, TV stations, websites and even the Sacramento Press Club, which he hasn’t quite gotten around to making time for.

So good luck on Hannity, Gov. Newsom. We’ll be watching, and we’ll also be watching for you to be a little more present in California media, since you’re not running for president, which you have noted — in exasperation — that you need to say in dozens of different languages.

You’re not running for president. Right?