Rep. Karen Bass said she’s determined to help California Gov. Gavin Newsom defeat a recall effort against him if it comes to fruition.
“I think it’s very sad. I think it’s inappropriate. He does not deserve to be recalled. I believe that he has done the best he could. He’s having a lot of difficulty in the state because you have places in our state where people are COVID deniers,” Bass told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “I am hoping that the recall does not qualify, and If it does, we will do everything we can to defeat it.”
‘HE THINKS HE’S KING, NOT GOVERNOR’: SUPPORT FOR GAVIN NEWSOM RECALL HIGH IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The governor is facing a recall effort largely driven by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, during which he has implemented some of the strictest lockdowns in the country.
The Recall Newsom campaign has reached more than 1.8 million signatures, surpassing its initial goal of 1.5 million. However, the signatures still need to be verified by the secretary of state’s office before an October recall election can be triggered.
A report released earlier this month by the California secretary of state’s office said it has already verified nearly 800,000 signatures. Among that total, about 668,000, or roughly 84%, were valid.
Newsom was thrust into the national spotlight last year after he was caught attending a dinner gathering at an upscale restaurant in Napa Valley, despite having implemented restrictions against such activities.
California has embattled a slower vaccine rollout than other states and was also entangled in widespread unemployment fraud that sent benefits to death row inmates and out-of-state residents.
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In recent days, Newsom has sped up his push to reopen schools, introducing a proposal one day after news broke that a $500,000 donation had been made to the Republican-led campaign working on his recall, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
California has had more than 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 and is nearing 52,000 deaths attributed to the virus.
