L: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California on Aug. 16, 2019. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) R: President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the CCP virus at the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware, on March 12, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
White House press secretary Jen Psaki revealed on Tuesday President Joe Biden’s standing on a recall effort pushing to remove the governor of California from office.
“In addition to sharing a commitment to a range of issues with @GavinNewsom from addressing the climate crisis to getting the pandemic under control, @POTUS clearly opposes any effort to recall @GavinNewsom,” Psaki said on Twitter.
Psaki’s message on Twitter came a few hours after she was asked about Biden’s position on the campaign effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom at a press briefing.
Newsom, a Democrat in his first term, is facing criticism from within his party and from Republicans for his handling of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, among other issues.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom outlines his 2021-2022 state budget proposal during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2021. Rich Pedroncelli/Pool/AP Photo
As of Wednesday, the state is set on surpassing New York with the highest death toll nationwide with more than 45,000 people dead from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
California, the most populous of the 50 states, is one of the hardest hit in recent months and has reported 45,009 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, a private research university that analyzes the data available on the pandemic.
New York, in comparison, which was hard-hit during the early stages last spring, has reported 45,140 lives lost.
As of Feb. 10, the campaign has garnered more than 1.4 million signatures of the 1.5 million required to get on the ballot, while some Silicon Valley players have recently voiced support.
Organizers of the recall effort have until March 17 to submit the needed 1.5 million certified signatures to trigger a recall election. If the campaign is successful, Newsom will be the third state governor, and the second in California, to be successfully recalled in U.S. history.
Anne Hyde Dunsmore, campaign manager and finance director of Rescue California—the organization behind the effort—told Epoch Times affiliate NTD that based on recent polls, she believes the recall effort against Newsom is vastly different from that faced by former California Gov. Gray Davis, who was recalled in 2003 only a few months into his second term.
Former California Gov. Gray Davis (left) and chairman/CEO of Showtime, Matt Blank attend the after party for the film premiere of "Spinning Boris" on March 3, 2004 at the Paramount Theatre, in Los Angeles, California. Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
“I see this as a citizen movement,” Dunsmore said. “We’re attracting interest all across the board, and if you dig down into those polls, I think the more dangerous numbers are that within the no party preference category of voters, he’s upside down there too—his disapproval is higher than his approval.”
A spokesman for Newsom has told news outlets that the recall campaign is a waste of money and that the governor would “rather focus on getting through the homestretch of the pandemic.”
