| BLUF: The man was a playa. |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] When the future Mrs Gavin Newsom started dating him there was some confusion - lots of people thought she was a teenage model half his age whom he had also been linked to.
Jennifer Newsom later recalled: 'The whole first month we were dating, everyone thought I was her [the 19-year-old model] and were saying, "We need to card you."'
Indeed, the likeness was striking, and not just between those two women - the wife of a close friend of Newsom's, whom he had an affair with in the noughties - bore a passing resemblance too.
Back in those days Newsom did a lot of apologizing, including over his 'problems' with alcohol, which he said he would address. He never went to rehab, despite initially indicating he would.
Of course, it was all a long time ago. Newsom and his wife Jennifer have now been happily married for 16 years and have four children.
And, on Sunday he confirmed his ambition to run for the White House in 2028, telling CBS: 'Yeah, I'd be lying otherwise. I'd just be lying. And I can't do that.'
He added: 'I'm looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment. And that's the question for the American people.'
Newsom is already the clear favorite for the Democratic nomination. But Republican operatives are busily looking at the scandals they can revisit, and his own supporters will also have to reckon with his past.
Another potential banana skin for Newsom is expected to be the infamous French Laundry scandal. The incident, named after a swanky restaurant where he dined during the pandemic, is set to haunt him in the campaign to come. But more on that later.
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