The trouble for the California governor began in November when he was caught dining out at a posh restaurant for a lobbyist’s birthday as he told his citizens to avoid gatherings, reinforcing perceptions that he is out of touch with people. Then, says The Associated Press, came a messy vaccine rollout and a fresh round of business closures.
All that just added fuel to the fire for Republicans who began a recall petition before the pandemic hit about a year ago.
“[Approximately] 1.4 million signatures have been gathered at this point,” Republican Assemblymember Kevin Kiley told The Todd Starnes Show on Thursday. “We still have until March 17 to get the required number, which is 1.5 million verified signatures.”
People are not happy with what Kiley called the “unscientific and corrupt mismanagement of this COVID-19 era by Gavin Newsom.”
“It’s really amazing, just the multi-partisan support that this movement is getting from people of all political affiliations, all backgrounds, all walks of life, who have been completely disenfranchised,” he added.
When that broad support is combined with California’s high poverty rate, poor education outcomes, homeless population, and deteriorating roads and bridges, Kiley said more people in California are paying attention to the State Capitol as opposed to the nation’s capital.
“They’re really starting to see the connection between the deterioration of their quality of life in California and the corruption of our state politics,” he shared.
Last month, California Democratic Party chairman Rusty Hicks called the recall effort “the California coup.” Kiley finds that offensive.
“They likened this movement of 1.4 million people, which is utilizing a constitutional process, to a violent overthrow of the government,” Kiley told Starnes.
