Feinstein’s take: Senator says she has no intention of retiring before term ends.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein “absolutely” intends to serve out her term, she said Tuesday, dismissing questions about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pledge to name a Black woman to her seat if she retires early.

“Please, we’re very good friends,” Feinstein told reporters at the Capitol in Washington. “I don’t think he meant it the way some people thought.”

Calling their relationship “good and strong,” Feinstein shrugged off the incident as people “making a mountain out of a molehill.” She did not answer a question about whether she was disappointed in Newsom for his remark.

“We are friends, we are colleagues, there’s nothing to it,” she said.

During an interview Monday night on MSNBC, Newsom said he was committed to appointing a Black woman to the Senate if Feinstein does not finish her term and that he had “multiple names in mind.”

Newsom faced pressure from African American and progressive political leaders to name a Black woman to replace Vice President Kamala Harris when she gave up her Senate seat in January. He was criticized when he did not, leaving the Senate without any Black women.

The governor did not elaborate Monday on whom he was considering, but Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland and Karen Bass of Los Angeles were among the Black women mentioned as top candidates to replace Harris. Newsom ultimately selected Alex Padilla, then the California secretary of state, who became the first Latino to represent the state in the Senate.

At 87, Feinstein is the oldest member of the Senate, prompting constant speculation about her political future. She said Tuesday it was “pretty obvious” that she is able to serve fully and finish her term, which runs through 2024.

Newsom defended his comment Tuesday as purely hypothetical, including during an interview with ABC’s “The View” where he said he was not trying to push Feinstein out and he still believes she is “lucid and focused.”

Visiting a school in Alameda later, Newsom said he had “no anticipation whatsoever that she’s going anywhere for years and years” and called Feinstein a friend and mentor.

“I feel deeply connected to her, always supported her, will continue to,” he said. “She’s a magnificent and extraordinary person, and I think there’s been a little too much punditry around her current term. I think we all would do a lot better if we move away from it.”

Asked for the names he had in mind as potential replacements for Feinstein, Newsom said, “She should absolutely fill out the rest of her term.”