Gavin Newsom faces 'Hillary Clinton problem,' says MS NOW host about California governor's 2028 ambitions

"And that's like the worst uncanny valley for a Democratic politician to be in, where the base doesn't trust you because you don't have a kind of organic relationship with the left parts of the party. And then the swing voter just thinks like, that's a lib," he added.

Hayes said Democrats needed someone who had an authentic relationship with the party's left-wing base, but also "communicates broadly" and is viewed as nonpartisan.

"I just think right now - and this could change - Newsom has the opposite set of factors. He has made very clear attempts to show that he's bipartisan, centrist, independent," he said.

Hayes and Douthat suggested he made moves toward the center and the right through "substantive things he's done," citing the billionaire tax and trans policy.

"But I haven't seen evidence that that comes through. I just think there's a reputational thing that's very problematic. Also, the governor of California is a tough place to get the next Democratic nominee from," he added.

Douthat argued that Newsom has not run a race in which he needed to win over many centrist or center-right voters. However, he said one of Newsom's strengths was that he can get attention. 

"The ideal situation you want, I think, if you're designing this in a lab, is someone that has both a proven ability to speak to swing voters, the voters you need, and is also really good at attention," Hayes said. "And the nightmare scenario in a Democratic primary is someone who's bad at the former and good at the latter."

The governor's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.