California Gov. Gavin Newsom Press Conference on Recall Election Transcript

Mayor Breed: (00:00)
[crosstalk 00:00:00] You’re sitting down? You get over here, Governor.

Gov. Newsom: (00:17)
No, no. I feel like we should be sitting down. No, no.

Get over hear. [crosstalk 00:00:20]. Yeah, somebody else could stand up on the stage. You got it? We’re here? Everybody in?

Speaker 1: (00:23)
We’re good.

All right. Hi everyone. I’m San Francisco Mayor London Breed. And I’m here today with our governor for the state of California, Gavin Newsom. I’m also here with a number of elected officials from all the spectrums of the Democratic Party, who absolutely oppose this recall. And we’re here at Manny’s because we understand the importance of making sure that we reach out to members of the Democratic Party to cast their votes. In fact, I got my ballot yesterday, and what we want to make sure is that people as they get their ballots, they check off no, they put it in the prepaid envelope here in San Francisco and they drop it in the mail. And all of us, we have our challenges in terms of our disagreements in San Francisco, but we are united in our support for the governor and all the amazing work he has done to lead us during a global pandemic.

Can you believe that we’re still in the midst of this pandemic and he continues to lead as we deal with what I think is a horrible distraction from what is most important to the people of California. And let me just tell you who’s here today and I’m grateful, and some of them you will hear from. Starting with our Assemblymember Phil Ting, our State Senator Scott Wiener, our Assemblymember David Chu. We have the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, Honey Mahogany is joining us. We have Malia Cohen, who is a part of the board of equalization for the state of California. We have David Compost, who is the vice chair of the California Democratic Party. We have the district attorney, Chesa Boudin and many other people in this city who are adamantly opposed to this recall. And let me just say real quickly before I turn it over to David Chu. The fact is, we know that sometimes we take elections for granted.

We appreciate the governor. We appreciate his hard work. And the fact that here in San Francisco, one of the most challenging issues we’ve been dealing with has been centered around homelessness. Project home key has been so instrumental in helping us to purchase, so far, about three buildings where we’ve been able to house hundreds of people who would otherwise be sleeping on our streets right now. That is significant. And so sometimes people may not realize the impacts of what this governor has done with his budget, a unprecedented investment in schools and all of the resources throughout the state matter. And what we have to do now is make sure that this doesn’t continue to become a distraction. That this recall doesn’t get in the way of the real work that we all need to do to move our city and our state forward.

So I, for one, am here because I want to make sure that voters throughout the city and throughout the state, understand that we need you more than ever. When you get your ballot or when you show up to the polls, vote no on the recall, that’s it. Point blank and let’s move on with the real work of the state of California. And now I’d like to introduce Assemblymember David Chu.

David Chu: (04:15)
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor and thank you for your leadership. Good morning, everyone. We are here to let folks know that ballots are dropping as we speak. And by Monday, every California voter should receive a ballot. Which means that every California voter has an opportunity to vote no, on this Republican recall. This Republican recall threatens our values as California’s, threatens our progress when it comes to protecting our environment, to standing for education, for standing for healthcare, for so many things that we believe in. And I know for every single one of us, this is very personal. As the father of my son who’s in nursery school, this is a governor who’s been protecting our kids from guns. This is the governor who is bringing about universal preschool for four year olds. As an Asian-American, this is a governor who was the first to stand up for Asian-American community and call out anti-Asian hate last year.

David Chu: (05:12)
This is the governor who worked with Asian legislators to invest in an unprecedented level, $156 million to fight anti-Asian hate in our state. And who’s on the other side, the Republican allies of our former president, who was the one who fomented this hate. We are here because we have to stand together, and we’re here because the polls are close. They are too close. I’m going to ask folks to remember how we all felt the night before the election in 2016, the presidential election. We thought we have it in the bag. The poll showed us that we were way ahead. Well, it turned out that we were wrong. Today the poll showed that this race is neck and neck. This race is neck and neck. And if Democrats don’t turn out, we are going to have a Republican governor in a couple of weeks.

David Chu: (06:03)
And I can tell you on behalf of our state legislators, nothing could be more catastrophic for the state of California. All eyes are on our state. The direction, the vision of our state will be dictated by what voters do in the next couple of weeks. We have to stand together. We have to stand United, and we have to have the back of a governor who has had our back. And so with that, I’m David Chu, a state assemblymember. I’m standing with Governor Newsom. I hope all of you are standing with Governor Newsom. And with that, it’s my honor to bring up my great colleague representing the west side of San Francisco, Phil Ting. Thank you.

Phil Ting: (06:43)
Thank you, David. I’m still proud to join all the other elected officials and party officials to vote no, on this Republican recall. This recall was put on the ballot by Trump supporters, by national Republicans to really fight our democratic agenda. And what is that agenda? It’s agenda that’s about making sure that if you work 40 hours a week, you can have a living wage. It’s an agenda about having universal healthcare. It’s an agenda to make sure that we believe in science and we’re fighting back against climate change. And this recall, we just passed this historic budget, which Mayor Breed already talked about with huge investments into healthcare and homelessness. Well, there was one other item that we had to put in this budget, and that was almost $300 million to fund this recall. And that’s money that could have gone to education. That’s money that could have gone to medical healthcare or to our food banks. I just saw a food bank truck on the street. That’s money that could have been put to so many of the necessary and needed services that we have searching for and looking for in this state. But that money’s being spent on a recall because this governor had the audacity to lead in the time of a national crisis. And we had no help from Washington, no help. We had to go it alone. And that means we had to lead by example. We had to work with our own local city officials up and down the state, and make sure that we did everything possible to protect California. So, that’s what we’re going to continue to do.

Phil Ting: (08:23)
But just remember, if we don’t turn out to vote, my colleague Assemblymember Chu said it right. We’re going to get a Republican governor. And what if some of the candidates talked about, they’ve said, Hey, we’re going to go abolish the minimum wage. They’re not going to be fighting climate change. They’re definitely not going to be supporting childcare or healthcare. So, all the issues that we hold so dear, every single day on our agenda are at risk if we don’t turn out to vote. If we turn out to vote, we’re going to win. And that’s all we’re reminding people. Just make sure you’re going to get a ballot in the mail, fill it out. It’s really easy, it’s a yes, no question. Just vote no and mail it back. That’s it.

Phil Ting: (09:04)
Just do it by September 14th and we’re good. So again, it’s very simple yes, no question. Just make sure you just fill in the right bubble and mail it back in, and we’re going to be back to be able to continue to lead this great state. And with that, let me introduce my other grade colleague from the state Senate, Senator Scott Wiener.

Senator Scott Weiner: (09:33)
All right. Thank you, Assemblymember. So, I filled out my ballot this morning. I checked one box and one box only, no full stop. And I’ll be nailing it today. People sometimes say, do you want to be governor one day? And I say, absolutely not. I love representing San Francisco and I look at what this governor has had to deal with since the minute he took office, the worst…

… the minute he took office, the worst wildfires in the history of this state, and it seems like every few months, we have another worst wildfire in the history of the state. The collapse and bankruptcy of our largest electric utility, PG&E, and all of the fallout on that, and then a once in a hundred year global pandemic. When we look at this pandemic, it’s not like if you’re the governor of the fifth largest economy in the world, you just say, “Okay, we have a once in a hundred year global pandemic. Let me get the manual off the shelf for the once in a hundred year pandemic.” There is no manual. You have to just lead and follow the science and follow the experts and work hard to lead our state. This governor has done that. He has led us through these terrible wildfires, has led us through the collapse of PG&E, and has led us through this terrible pandemic.

It is so easy, and what we’re seeing with these recall candidates, so easy just to take pot shots at the guy who’s actually responsible for leading us through these crises, to take pot shots at the governor on homelessness from the same political party that has slashed and helped destroy so much of the social safety net, which has made homelessness worse. Can you imagine that, these people slashing the social safety net and then having the gall to say anything criticizing this governor on trying to pick up the pieces to deal with the disaster of homelessness?

These people who are criticizing, having the gall to criticize this governor on wildfires when they don’t believe in climate change. The same political party that has prevented Congress from taking any meaningful action on climate change, although we’re going to change that in the coming months, and they have the gall to criticize about these wildfires. The same people, they’re criticizing about the response to the pandemic when this is the same political party that is running around, trying to ban school districts from requiring masks to protect children and teachers, the same political party that has been systematically undermining confidence in vaccines, and they have the gall to stay a word criticizing this governor of California on COVID. I’ll tell you, I’d rather be California right now than the state governed by Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott. We don’t need Ron DeSantis here in California. We need Gavin Newsom, and we’re going to keep him in office.

I also just want to say as a gay man, we have a lot of great straight allies, and a number of them are up here today. But there is a very, very small subset of our straight allies who get it in their bones when it comes to LGBTQ people, where you don’t have to explain anything about why civil rights protections or decriminalization of our community is important. Gavin Newsom is one of those allies who deeply gets it, and he has been there for us. Again, we don’t have to explain it to him. He just gets it. I.

I want to say this. The people who are trying to knock him out of office, this Republican recall, these people are enemies of LGBTQ people. They want to roll back our civil rights. These are the people who are attacking trans kids, the most marginalized people in our society, who can’t stand up for themselves. These people are attacking them, and they want to be the governor of California. I say, “No, we’re going to defeat this recall, and we’re going to move forward.” It is now my pleasure to bring up my former colleague from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and now one of our great statewide leaders, the amazing Malia Cohen.

Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Malia Cohen. I’m a member of the California Board of Equalization, and quite honestly, the folks that are standing with me are part of the family. What’s ironic is that we have all battled each other at some point or another, particularly me and Campos. We’ve really gone at it. But today is a really important day, because today we are putting our differences aside and we are standing together united to fight a much greater enemy. That is the enemy of fear, the enemy of hatred, the enemy of bigotry, the enemy of science deniers. We don’t have room for that in the state of California. You’ve heard all the reasons why we need to vote no, and I’m proud to also stand here with my ballot, letting you know that I am voting no, I have voted no, and I’m urging everyone that can hear my voice to vote no.

I want to take a moment and I want to speak to two constituencies in particular. First, I want to speak to the Latino community, the Latinx community. You are absolutely critical in making this recall go away and stopping this. [foreign language 00:15:06]. We need you. We need you to organize, we need you to rise up, and we need you to vote no. We need you to tell your friends and your family this is absolutely critical if we want to continue to be on the trajectory of upward mobility, of inclusiveness. Thoughtful leadership is what has brought us here together. Thoughtful leadership is what’s going to get this state out of this hump.

I want to talk to the African-American community, who has historically had very low voter turnout, who has historically been labeled apathetic, sad, unmotivated, and I want to encourage you to stand up and rise up and beat that stereotype. We need to organize. We need to stand by this governor, who has stuck with us unequivocally. We have put our differences aside, because, again, we need to come together and be very focused and very thoughtful about what we are doing. This country needs us. This country not only needs governor Gavin Newsom, but the country, not only the state of California needs the governor, but the state, the United States needs the state of California to continue to lead.

Now, you heard our vice president say, “As California goes, so goes the nation.” That is not a quip. That is real. Our policies and what we stand for make a difference in everyday people’s lives, and I’m here as a woman who worked on Gavin Newsom first mayoral campaign, worked in the administration with him. You don’t know a person until you bring them a turkey sandwich, and I have seen him toil. I have seen him work very hard, poring over policies, studying facts. I’ve heard the jokes over and over again also. But this is a thoughtful, courageous leader who stood up against all odds and said, “I’m going to marry LGBT people,” who stood up and said, “I’m putting a moratorium on the death penalty.” This is an incredible human being. We have a gem here, and we need to understand what is at stake. This, ladies and gentlemen, is life and death, and with that said, I want to bring up the man of the hour, our governor, Gavin Newsom.

[inaudible 00:17:43]. I’m looking forward to the turkey sandwich right after this as well. Malia, thank you for your generous words in your induction and for your incredible support over the course of many, many decades to each and every elected official, particularly the mayor. I’m incredibly humbled and grateful. Those were very generous words, each and every one of you, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I’m incredibly honored and humbled that you’re not only here, but you have been working so hard not only to defeat this recall, but to advance a common cause that unites each and every one of us.

That’s a cause that is at stake and risk of being derailed in the state of California, the values we hold, dear, the California dream, what defines the best of this state, the most diverse state in the world’s most diverse democracy, a state that’s getting more and more diverse, as we learned today after analysis of the census, a majority minority state, a state that has been under assault and attack as it relates to its values for decades, the echoes of Prop 27, echoes of the 1990s, constantly being reminded of that four years of that at scale in Washington, DC. Here we are again, fighting back against those same instincts to take us back. This is the sixth recall effort, sixth with just two and a half years in office, sixth effort. This predates the pandemic.

You read the list of grievances, it begins with grievance number one, immigration. Shouldn’t surprise any of you. When we advanced the cause to do what the city had already done, and that’s the cause to include everybody, regardless of preexisting condition, ability to pay, or their immigration status by expanding that healthcare support to undocumented residents, that’s what initiated this latest recall effort. The principal backer of this recall proudly states that he wants to microchip immigrants, because he says it works for animal welfare and control. Before there was the Marjorie Taylor Greene, we had a principal backer of this recall spewing that same hate rhetoric and antisemitic rhetoric, suggesting that wearing face masks is somehow equivalent to the Holocaust. The anti-Asian hate, go to their website today, spewed consistently over and over and over again by the principal-

Consistently over and over and over again by the principal backers of this recall. If you think I’m overstating it, consider the RNC support, consider Newt Gingrich’s support, consider Devin Nunez’ support, consider Mike Huckabee’s support, consider Rudy Giuliani’s latest support of the leading candidate to replace me if we are unsuccessful, Larry Elder. I think this is important to know. Larry Elder is running away with this on the other side. I just hope folks [inaudible 00:20:29] what could happen on election day if we don’t turn out in historic numbers to vote no on this recall.

You have someone that’s not just opposed a woman’s right to choose, he is, but actually wrote an op-ed saying women are not as smart as men on issues of civic affairs, on issues of economics, on issues of politics. He’s someone that doesn’t believe in assault weapons ban. Someone that doesn’t believe in a corporate tax, should be zero. Doesn’t even believe in a minimum wage, a fight for 15. He doesn’t believe there should be a minimum wage, should be $0. Doesn’t believe the time of historic wildfires and droughts, the challenges we all face here in the Bay Area and the looming prospects of an earthquake, doesn’t even believe in FEMA.

Thinks FEMA should be eliminated as he does the elimination of Social Security as we know it, wants to privatize and wants to cut Medicaid, wants to cut Medicare. I can go down a list. He’s to the right of Donald Trump. To the right of Donald Trump. That’s what’s at stake in this election. And don’t think for a second, you can’t do damage in that role. Think about the judges he’d appoint. Who would he have appointed to replace Kamala Harris in the US Senate? How would that impact the trajectory of this country?

What would this mean the future of the Democratic Party and our efforts to keep the House of Representatives, the agenda, the Biden agenda moving forward, which is California’s agenda? Just consider the three and a half trillion dollar debate that they’re having in Washington, DC. The debate is about funding preschool, funding childcare, community college free. All those things state of California’s done. Check, check, check. Been There, done that. Larry Elder does not believe [inaudible 00:22:24] not only doesn’t he believe in climate change, he calls it a myth, a crock.

Wants to actually build more offshore oil platforms, more off shore oil platforms. And perhaps most significantly enough, and I’ll close up. Day one, he proudly states as do all the other Republican candidates, day one, they proudly state day one that they would eliminate any masks requirements in our public schools to keep our kids safe and healthy and in-person to get the social, emotional support they deserve. They want he repeal that as he would repeal any requirement for vaccine verifications, including healthcare workers.

Day one, the stakes are profound. I know we always say the stakes couldn’t be higher. The stakes could not be higher in the state of California. $80 billion operating surplus. An economy, the state of California, it’s not only the fifth largest economy in the world. The economy in the last five years has grown faster than any Western democracy in the world. Outperformed the United States, Germany, Japan, a hundred plus IPOs. We’re the tent pole of the American recovery in terms of job creation, close to 600,000 jobs just in the last five months.

Actual strategies and plans to deal with the systemic pre-existing issues like homelessness. $12 billion investment to deal with underlying issues of homelessness, issues of behavioral health and providing board and care homes and providing infrastructure investments the likes of which the state has never seen and the political will to make the tough choices to get things done, including on housing policy. Across the spectrum, the state is beginning a recovery. And I’ll close on this.

A recovery that’s been aided by our openness to argument, our commitment to evidence and science, not ideology. It shouldn’t surprise any of you that states, you brought it up, like Texas and Florida. Not only do we have better health outcomes in the last 18 months, we had better economic outcomes in the last 18 months. Our economy contracted a much lower rate than Texas and Florida and Indiana, the United States as a whole, because we were led by science and facts. All of that is at risk. We could go off a COVID cliff in just a matter of weeks if we don’t take this moment seriously and turn those ballots back in.

We talk about turnout. This is about turning in those ballots. It’s a simple thing. Just vote no, and go to the mailbox and get these ballots back. This election started this week. Election day ends on the 14th. It begins this week. Those ballots are dropping in mailboxes all across this state. We encourage people. We implore you. Please vote no on this recall. Grateful for the incredible leaders behind me. And of course, we’re here to answer any questions.

Speaker 2: (25:32)
Just vote no. Just vote no. Just vote no. Just vote no. Just vote not. Just vote no.

Speaker 3: (25:41)
Governor, one question. Any detail on when the president or vice president will be coming out to campaign for you?

Yeah. We’re comparing schedules right now, but we do anticipate vice president and president to be out here in a matter of weeks. But the actual details are being worked out with the White House and our scheduling team. We’re very grateful of President Biden’s statement yesterday, strong opposition to this recall and strong support for our efforts here in the state of California and COVID and across the board on climate change, wildfire drop, a myriad of other issues. We’re looking forward to vice president and president being out here.

Speaker 4: (26:18)
I wanted to ask you about your strategy to leave the second question blank. The alternate candidates in this race say that that’s voter suppression. I talked to a phone banker here who said that, actually he’s talking to Democrats who are confused. They want some guidance. So two questions. Do you plan then to leave that second question blank and you vote and wouldn’t you rather have another Democrat succeed you than Larry Elder?

Well, respectfully, the choice is pretty clear on the other side and no, I will not be voting on the second question. I’m not on that ballot. I’m on the first question and I’ll simply be voting no, and I couldn’t be more clear. Vote no is what all Californians should do. Just vote no, and leave the other question blank. The alternative is pretty clear. The person running away with this race notably stands for all of that which I just advanced and communicated, and we need to focus in on the task at hand, a simple no vote on the second recall.

The last three governors in the state of California, the weaponization of the Republican Party and the continuation of their efforts to advance voter suppression and to continue to dismantle the core tenants of our democracy by weaponizing and perverting these recall efforts. And they’re doing it, as DA knows well, all across the spectrum and all across the country, perhaps though none more consequential than in the great state California.

Speaker 4: (27:52)
But it could help Larry Elder.

A vote no does not help any … That second question.

Speaker 4: (27:57)
Opposed to leaving blank.

Absolutely not. The end of the day, we vote no, the second question is moot. It doesn’t matter.

Are there any concerns about the virus and how it will affect your ability to reach voters? It’s clearly not impacting Larry Elder’s campaigns [inaudible 00:28:13].

Well, I mean, they don’t believe in masks [inaudible 00:28:15]. He’s been putting folks out there that talked about Bill Gates and microchips on his radio show or some version of that. Forgive me. So, that doesn’t surprise me. As it relates to this variant, we’ve been very aggressive, California leading the nation in terms of first leaning in, mayor of San Francisco leaning in, folks down in LA, other cities, leaning in taking this very, very seriously. Contrast that to what these other candidates are promoting, examples of Florida and Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas.

We’re not going to walk down that path. So we’ll continue to maintain our vigilance. We’re at 6.6% positivity today. It’s about three times that in places like Florida and Texas. We’re continuing to maintain our aggressive posture as it relates to getting more people vaccinated. I should note that over 77 and a half percent of all eligible Californians have received at least one dose. It’s among the highest vaccination rates in America. We’re proud of that, but we still have more work to do to get more people vaccinated.

And I applaud the work of the mayor and local elected officials to continue to do more and advance their cause as it relates to localized conditions that are distinctive in a state that’s larger than 21 state populations combined.

Speaker 5: (29:33)
Governor, how do you explain the enthusiasm gap among Democrats versus Republicans during this recall?

Well, I think you’ve got three networks, maybe four, that 24/7 for last year have been ginning up support for a recall going back many, many months. I don’t know if you’ve tuned into Newsmax lately or that one, OAN, even RT now, and then there’s something called Fox. When the RNC gets behind something, they’ve got an echo chamber-

… gets behind something, they’ve got an echo chamber and they stay on message over the course of months and months and months and months. You see polls that show registered voters overwhelmingly rejecting the recall, at the same time you’re ginning up that support and that echo chamber, it’s not surprising. So my job is to do the job we all know how to do well. Every single one of the elected officials behind me know how to do this one, that’s to get out the vote or they wouldn’t be in the offices they’re in.

And we have over 17 million text messages that we have sent out, 5,200 volunteers, 5,200 volunteers on this campaign. We’re investing, already we’ve committed over $6.5 million towards GOTV efforts. Working with Voto Latino, working of the Million Voters Project, working with labor unions up and down the state, the Party and their apparatus.

We have dozens of these examples all throughout Northern California, I even got down to Southern California where I’m going in a few moments. We’ll be in every part of the state, we’ve been on the road nonstop. We’re continuing to do not just texting campaigns, but phone banking campaigns, and GOTV traditional door knocking. We are building our volunteer and paid organized base. And I would argue probably the largest GOTV effort that’s ever been advanced in the state’s history. And we’re just winding up because the ballots just dropped and now is when people are tuning in and we’re going to tune up these efforts.

Speaker 4: (31:24)
Governor, what do you think about theory that someone, you or someone, should sue over the Constitutionality of the recall. Did you see that New York Times [crosstalk 00:31:31]

Yeah, I’m going to leave that to others right now. It’s not theoretical that on September 14th there’s a recall ballot. I’m going to focus on what’s in front of us and I’ll leave that to others.

Speaker 6: (31:44)
Governor, did you ask President Biden to issue that statement he put out yesterday supporting you, and are you satisfied with the level of support you’re getting from the national party?

Yeah, I’ve been blown away by the support across the spectrum. I appreciate the framework y’all advanced on the spectrum that the Democratic Party is represented here… Old friend David, God bless him. I don’t know why they picked on you David?

David Chu: (32:09)
But I mean it, it means a lot. I was texting David the other day, I saw a tweet of his and he was phone banking, just means a lot. It does. All these guys, these are all my old friends. I mean, honestly. This is my hometown, this is great to be here. Really is, it’s humbling.

So, I’m equally grateful that Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren immediately came out in opposition of this recall, not just Biden and Harris and other members of the party. I’m so proud, every statewide Democrat immediately came up in opposition, all the big cit mayors, immediately. All the Senate, assembly members, I didn’t even have to call those folks. They reached out to me, said we got to defeat this thing. That’s why there’s no major Democrat on this ballot, because the Democratic Party truly is united in opposition, because we recognize what’s at stake. And that’s a very distinctive path this year versus a few years back and the recall. And so I’m very, to your question, very, very satisfying and very grateful. And we’re really looking forward to the President and Vice-President being out here.

Speaker 7: (33:16)
Sir, if you do-

Speaker 5: (33:17)
Governor, if you vote no on the first question to recall, do you even have to fill out the question [inaudible 00:33:22]

No, just vote no and you don’t have to touch the other part. The other part is, I mean, it’s irrelevant. Don’t even touch it, a simple no. I mean, this is about the easiest ballot you ever had to fill out. Just vote no, no on the recall. That ballot is also appearing in your mailbox. We’re making this about as easy as it’s ever been, but the consequences are higher than they’ve ever been.

Because you can wake up with something so radically different, so profoundly different that that order of magnitude will be the likes of which a shock wave, not just across the state, but across the nation, something we’ve never seen. We saw what happened in the last recall. It’s nothing compared to the impact of this recall.

And I’ll tell you something else, I don’t know about you, this last 18 months has been hard on all of us. The stress, the anxiety, the fear we have. I want to turn the page. This California recovery, it’s real and we’ll maintain the framework of equity inclusivity. That’s our North Star. We have work to do, no one’s naive. All those pre-existing conditions, homelessness, we get that. We’re committed to those issues. But another couple of years of more fear and anxiety and uncertainty, chaos, we can’t afford that as a state. This country deserves better than that. And that’s what’s at stake. Just vote no on this recall.

Speaker 8: (34:54)
And we have one last question here.

Speaker 9: (34:55)
Governor, you mentioned the… Oh.

Speaker 10: (34:58)
Governor, if you do not win, you talked about the national implications, should Senator Feinstein consider-

Oh, I have not… We’re going to defeat this recall as long as folks turn in those ballots, as long as folks take it seriously, the threat of what is posed on September 14th, those questions are hypotheticals and I am blessed and overwhelmed by Senator Feinstein’s support as well. And I’ve got to say that, that’s personal for me, as you know. She and I are very close, handwritten, personal letters she’s provided me in the last few months of support and encouragement, is a real blessing. And so I’m grateful to her. I’m grateful to Senator Padilla. I’m grateful for our entire Congressional delegation led by Speaker Pelosi, it’s just been extraordinary. You heard her a couple of days ago in San Francisco, doubling down on what’s at stake and the importance of rejecting this recall. But look, this is the kickoff, we’re going to win this weekend, we’re going to win next weekend. We’re going to win this race. Can’t do it without all of you. Please turn in those ballots, vote no on this recall. Thank you all, very much. [inaudible 00:36:07].

Speaker 11: (36:12)
Yep that way.

Speaker 12: (36:14)
Sorry guys.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Press Conference on Recall Election Transcript

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