President Biden openly touted California Gov. Gavin Newsom as a hot contender for the White House — telling world leaders the younger man “could have the job I’m looking for,” referring to his 2024 re-election bid.

“I want to thank him. He’s been one hell of a governor, man,” Biden, who turns 81 next week, said of the 56-year-old fellow Democrat after Newsom warmed up the crowd for him at a reception for leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco.

“Matter of fact, he can be anything he wants — he could have the job I’m looking for,” said Biden, who is the Democratic Party’s front-runner for the 2024 nomination.

Newsom has long been mentioned as a potential Biden primary challenger — or replacement — as he ramped up his national profile.

He made headlines last month when he went on a week-long trip to China to speak with President Xi Jinping ahead of the APEC conference.

The governor told reporters the purpose of the trip was for “turning the page, of renewing our friendship and re-engaging (on) foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future.”

At a press conference, Newsom also said he and Xi discussed ways to “accelerate our progress on climate in meaningful and substantive ways.”

Newsom is also set later this month to debate his Florida Republican counterpart, Ron DeSantis, after months of sniping.

The two had traded verbal attacks for months, with Newsom taking aim at DeSantis over bans on discussion of critical race theory in classrooms, prohibition of K-12 instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and restrictions on abortion.

Back in April, Newsom even jetted down to DeSantis’ home turf to condemn changes the governor enacted at New College of Florida in Sarasota.

The Biden campaign is said to view Newsom as key to getting out the Democratic message, and on Tuesday, the California governor raked in an estimated $3 million for the president’s campaign at a San Francisco fundraiser, according to Politico.

But the president is still trailing former President Donald Trump in national polls, which reveal growing concerns among voters about Biden’s competence.

Trump, 77, leads Biden, 80, 44% to 42% in a head-to-head election match-up, a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released Wednesday shows, while a Fox News survey showed Trump getting 50% support among registered voters to 46% for Biden.

The Yahoo survey also found that 54% say Biden, who turns 81 next week, no longer has “the competence to carry out the job of president,” up from 49% in February. 

Just under a third of respondents, 31%, believe the president is still competent, the survey shows, a four percentage-point decrease from February. 

Concerns over Biden’s “health and mental acuity” have also risen, with 64% saying they are somewhat or very concerned about the matter.

In June 2020, before Biden took office, fewer than half of Americans (48%) said they had the same level of worry about the candidate’s health and mental state. 

But since then, Americans have become more aware of the president’s verbal and physical slips.

More voters have heard “a lot” about Biden “physically stumbling at public events” (47%), making “verbal gaffes” (41%) and “falling asleep at public events” (33%) than they have about Congress passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (20%) or Medicare being allowed to negotiate lower prescription drug prices under the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (23%). 

The poll was released three days after David Axelrod, one of former President Barack Obama’s top advisers, warned that Biden’s “age issue” was the “one thing” his campaign wouldn’t be able to message against.

“No matter how effective Joe Biden is behind the scenes, in front of the camera, what he’s projecting is causing people concerns,” Axelrod said during an appearance on CNN Sunday, “and that is worrisome.”