WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden opposes a movement in California to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, 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 said.
Psaki offered the administration’s robust support in a tweet after receiving a question on the matter in a briefing with reporters earlier in the day.
“Obviously he is somebody who he has been engaged with in the past,” Psaki said at the time. “They have a range of issues they have common agreement on, from the need to address climate change to put people back to work to address the COVID crisis. And, you know, we remain closely engaged with him and his office.”
The effort to recall Newsom has gained steam in recent months as dissatisfaction with Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has grown. Recent polling found Newsom’s approval ratings have dropped following a peak over the summer.
Recall organizers have also benefited from an extended deadline to collect signatures after arguing successfully in court that the pandemic interfered with that effort. Recall organizers say they are on track to collect the nearly 1.5 million valid signatures they need to qualify for the ballot, but it’s still not certain they will reach their goal.
Newsom deflected questions about the recall at a Tuesday morning press conference, saying he’s focused on battling the coronavirus.
“I’m not focusing on that at all,” he told reporters gathered at a mass vaccination site at the San Francisco 49ers stadium, pointing to his work on vaccines, school reopenings and boosting the economy. “That’s where my energy goes, and that’s what we are accomplishing here in the state.”
———
