CBS News Chief Election and Campaign Correspondent Robert Costa returned to Fresno State on Monday as part of The Maddy Institute’s Speaker Series.
Ahead of his Monday evening talk, Costa met with local reporters to share his thoughts on the election, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, among other topics.
“I really believe in this moment it’s really important to have a dialogue between journalists and members of the public,” Costa said. “The press is under siege a lot, in terms of our institutional trust, and it’s important for journalists at any organization to get out there and to be available for questions from the public, not just in Washington, but in places like the Central Valley here in California.”
Costa said on election night he worked for 12 hours straight at the CBS studio in New York City, starting at 7 p.m. and going well into the next morning without any breaks, all of which came after a long day of work that included a phone call with Trump.
“It was an interesting night, because it reminded me of 2016,” Costa said. “Some of my sources just couldn’t believe Trump could do it. They just couldn’t believe it, but it happened. This country surprises all the time.”
He said he wasn’t personally surprised with the results, saying he did not have an expectation either way on if Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris would win.
“The election, to me, came down to – was Vice President Harris going to win over enough traditional Republicans to outweigh any Republican gains among working people and union members and people of color? That clearly wasn’t the case,” Costa said.
He said the thought in the Harris campaign was having the Vice President hit the campaign trail with Liz Cheney and others would be a powerful tool to win over suburban voters in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia, among other states.
But Costa saw Trump connect with younger voters and voters of color who had economic and cultural grievances.
“Trump’s ability to project himself as an outsider, even though he is a former President of the United States, allowed him to create real political momentum,” Costa said.
Looking at where Harris goes from here, Costa said the Democratic Party is waiting to see if Harris will run for California Governor in 2026, make another attempt at the presidency in 2028 or step away to a different position, calling her decision “a real factor in how others calculate their own political careers.”
“She has not signalled yet exactly what she’s going to do, but everyone in the Democratic Party at the highest level is watching her,” Costa said. “What is she going to do.”
Costa also called back to an interview he did with Newsom in New Hampshire when asked about the future of the Democratic Party.
“Let’s be candid,” Costa said. “If you’re [the] Governor of California and you’re talking to Bob Costa in New Hampshire, you might have presidential ambitions. You don’t just end up in New Hampshire. He was in New Hampshire talking to me at a Democratic field office, and then I followed him to a rest stop as he shook hands.”
He added that Newsom has a lot of energy and clearly wants to be part of the conversation, but most Democrats at the national level are focused on the midterm elections in 2026.
Costa said he has observed Newsom being far more adept at engaging with voters on the campaign trail than his national reputation might suggest.
Newsom has been studying the right wing and has a strategy to engage with conservatives, Costa said, calling back to Newsom’s debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Newsom is someone who will be a factor in national Democratic politics in years ahead, whether he decides to run or not, because he’s really tried – and I’ve seen this up close as a reporter – to understand why the right, why the GOP under Trump is making so many gains,” Costa said. “That willingness to question whether Democrats are speaking to voters in the right way and having the right message makes him an intriguing figure.”
When asked about Trump’s transition and some of his cabinet nominations, Costa said the President-elect is comfortable with having power.
“I’ve had the opportunity to call Trump and to speak with him at different times before and after the election, and he is comfortable with power, at this moment,” Costa said. “In 2016 he was new to power. Now he is comfortable with power. And that comfort is reflected in who he’s nominating for these key positions.”
Costa predicts that Trump’s cabinet nominations will be contentious on Capitol Hill.
“By putting Kash Patel up for the FBI, he’s obviously nominating a disrupter who has pledged to upend the FBI in sweeping ways,” Costa said. “That has already caused consternation among more traditional voices in Washington who would like to see Chris Wray, the current director, stay in that job.”
But Trump’s support inside the Republican Party will help him find a lot of goodwill in the Senate to get the nominations through.
“I don’t expect a lot of these nominees to fall. Some might face very tough hearings. Pete Hegseth, the nominee for the Pentagon – his conduct has been questioned by critics, and that will be under the spotlight, no doubt about it. So will Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s conduct and alleged conduct over the years. But will this stop them from winning, from securing the vote? Hard to say. It appears to be – at least when it comes to the Republican Party – Trump’s Washington.”
