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On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) fueled speculation that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) could retire before she faces reelection in 2024. On Tuesday, Newsom said he has no reason to believe the 87-year-old senator would do so.

Newsom, appearing on MSNBC on Monday, was asked if he would appoint a Black woman to succeed Feinstein if she retires, given that Kamala D. Harris is now vice president and no longer representing California in the Senate.

“We have multiple names in mind, and the answer is yes,” Newsom said.

His remarks were interpreted by some analysts as a not-so-gentle nudge for Feinstein to vacate her seat.

On Tuesday, Feinstein reiterated that she plans to serve out her term, and Newsom, in another television appearance, said he has “no expectation” that Feinstein will retire early.

“Are you implying that she should step down before her term is over, because some folks thought that meant that you were sort of pushing her out,” Sunny Hostin, co-co-host of “The View,” asked Newsom during an appearance on the program.

“Quite the contrary,” Newsom replied. “She’s one of my oldest, closest friends and allies, and I say that literally and not figuratively.”

Newsom insisted he was merely answering a hypothetical question “honestly and forthrightly.”

“I have no expectation that she’ll be stepping aside,” he said. “I talk to her quite often. She is as lucid and focused and committed to the cause of fighting not only for our state as … senior senator in California, but this nation, in her senior status, as someone who has been in the Senate, with great respect across the aisle as long or longer than most.”

Feinstein also sought to tamp down the controversy Tuesday.

“Please, we’re very good friends,” she said. “I don’t think he meant that the way some people thought.

Feinstein said she “absolutely” plans to serve out her term.