WASHINGTON — President Biden opposes efforts by Californians to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom over his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
“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 wrote in a tweet.
At a press briefing earlier Tuesday, Psaki was asked about the growing campaign to oust the California Democratic leader.
The ex-husband of Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle was photographed breaking his own coronavirus rules at a mask-less dinner party at a posh Napa Valley restaurant in November.
Backers of the effort to remove Newsom have until until March 17 to collect 1,495,709 signatures needed to trigger a recall election.
Political pundits told the Los Angeles Times that the movement will probably reach the signatures required but said Newsom would likely survive given California’s Democratic-leaning population.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference at Petco Park in San Diego on Feb. 8, 2021. APAccording to the Times report, there have been 30 attempts to remove a California governor through recall.
Only one has been successful, when action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced Gray Davis in 2003.
Newsom, who is not up for re-election until 2022, has seen his approval rating plummet during the crisis.
A Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll published last week found his approval rating at 46 percent among registered voters, compared to 64 percent in September.
