Gavin Newsom weighs in on Trumpism and the stakes of the recall
CBSN
Less than 24 hours after California voters overwhelmingly rejected a recall effort against him, Governor Gavin Newsom was gratified by his big victory but doesn't think it dealt a mortal blow to Trumpism. Newsom told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an exclusive interview that the stakes of the recall effort were defined before conservative radio host Larry Elder emerged as the frontrunner against him.
Newsom, a Democrat, said Elder had "extreme points of view that make even Donald Trump blush," and President Biden referred to him this week as a "Trump clone."
He suggested that the recall highlighted a contrast between conservative and liberal views on issues emerging across the country. There was, Newsom said, a "connection issue" between Texas' sweeping new abortion law and the California recall election, in that voters had a preview of what it would be like to live in a state with an extremely conservative governor. The idea that California might have a governor who would sign on with other governors to support Mississippi's law to ban abortions after 15 weeks — "I couldn't let that happen."
