California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was seen visiting the White House on Wednesday for a “series of meetings” that would reportedly center on issues like abortion, climate change, and gun control.
According to reporter Elex Michaelson of FoxLA, Newsom arrived at the West Wing on Wednesday to meet with first lady Jill Biden.
Newsom was reportedly visiting D.C. to accept an award “in recognition of CA’s transformative improvements to education,” according to CalMatters reporter Emily Hoeven. Newsom had also planned to meet with Biden administration officials to discuss gun control, climate change, and abortion.
The Education Commission of the States said that it would “honor the state of California with the 2022 Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, in recognition of its coordinated approach to educating all students from preschool to postsecondary, with explicit attention toward whole-child supports and services, as well as its historic financial investments to ensure educational equity.”
“California is demonstrating an intentional, comprehensive investment of funding and other resources that recognize and honor whole-child approaches to education, not only instruction,” the commission said.
Newsom’s visit to the White House comes after he signed a bill into law allowing victims of gun violence to sue gun manufacturers, arguing that such companies have been “shielded from the mass destruction they cause for too long.”
“Gun manufacturers & distributors have been shielded from the mass destruction they cause for too long,” Newsom said in a Twitter post. “Today, CA changes that. I just signed a bill that will allow victims of gun violence to sue the makers of these deadly weapons & hold them accountable.”
Newsom has also been sparking rumors of a 2024 presidential run as poll after poll continues to show that Americans and Democrats have given up on Joe Biden.