On Call with Black Press, Gov. Newsom Says “Vote No” On Recall

By Gloria Zuurveen
Editor-in-Chief

LOS ANGELES —Governor Gavin Newsom, on Thursday, held a virtual interview with African American media to speak about the upcoming September 14th recall election.

Black media-owners from Northern and Southern California participated on the call which started off with the Governor introducing himself before  expounding on the seriousness of this recall election.

Gov. Newsom said that this is the number six recall efforts in just two and a half years he has been in office and he emphasized the fact that this one pre-dates the pandemic.

He said that the recall was  inspired by an effort to expand healthcare coverage regardless of ability to pay or regardless of ones pre-existing conditions or their immigration status.

He said the principal sponsor or promoter of this recall effort is a gentlemen who wants to put a microchip in all immigrants because it works for Animal, Welfare and Control.

This recall election has garnered some major political players like Newt Gingrich, Former Arkansas Mayor, Mike Huckabee and his Huck PAC, the Republic National Convention (RNC) and even Former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

Gov. Newsom reminded the zoom call listeners that this is an off-year election and that the only thing that matters is the turn out with votes.

He said that although he appears favorable in the polls,  polls don’t vote people vote and the propensity of those who are likely to vote queue with Republicans.

It was in 2003 when PACE NEWS covered the October 7 recall election of former Governor Gray Davis and the numbers bent toward Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger favoring him with 55.4% of the votes.

In the upcoming election, Gov. Newsom said, “If this (the recall) goes south, Larry Elder will be the next governor of California.”

He said as governor Elder wants to eliminate Obama Care, he wants to privatize Social Security, he wants to eliminate the minimum wage and to make them zero dollars, he wants to eliminate all tobacco regulations, and he wants to eliminate corporate taxes.

Legrand H. Clegg II, Compton, in a letter to the editor at the Los Angeles Times said about Elder, “When Larry Elder was a local radio talk show host, he not only “repeatedly twisted crime statistics to portray Black people as more violent than whites,” he also vilified African American political, religious and community leaders, as well as our organizations and institutions.

When  Black guests appeared on his program to defend the African American community or to explain our challenges, Elder would interrupt or shout over them. By mid-1990s, the Black community rose up and launched a successful boycott of the sponsors of his show.

Elder is not a benign conservative. He is a race-baiting opportunist who should not be elected governor of the state of California.

Gov. Newsom named all of the accomplishments under his leadership such as free community college, child care expansion, pre-school expansion, infrastructure, afterschool for all, and everything in Biden’s trillion dollars infrastructure package, he said, “We’re doing.” He said all of that is at risk with the recall.

Elder reported in the Sacramento Bee recently, “I’m going to work on crime.

I’m going to work on homelessness. I’m going to work on the rising cost of living, and to the extent that mandates regarding face masks and vaccines are enforced, I’m going to eliminate those.”

Josh Haskell reporting for ABC7.com said, “Elder, who has never held public office, says he thought California was ungovernable because of how many Democrats serve in the legislature, but once he read up on veto power, how rare it is for the legislature to override a veto, Elder jumped in.”

Veto power is just one of the many powers in the hands of the governor.

If Elder win he will have authority to do eliminate  programs he chooses regardless of how beneficial they are to the citizens of  California.

Gov. Newsom said, “I am here to raise the alarm bells and the urgency of this moment and the power of the African American vote to determine the fate of this election by voting no and doing nothing more.” He said, “The ballots have    already gone out and its not just to turn out but to turn in those ballots.”

Gov. Newsom said the progress made by his administration advanced the causes of African Americans and Latino communities that the Republicans are so repulsed by it.

He said it is quite literally a list of grievances which are a direct result of the work done on police reform, the work they’ve done to empower African American leaders to positions of real power and real influence and how offended they are by how diverse this nation has become not just the state of California.

He added, this is the vestiges of not just Trump but is really vestiges of Prop 187, the elimination of Affirmative Action Prop 209 in 94 and 95 all of these things are on the ballot on the 14th.

He added that it is so important that the community understand that all of that is at stake during the recall election.

Californians have been through a lot of chaos as other states due to the pandemic and now to  face the potential for new leadership with the likes of Larry Elder, as the new governor who over the course of his career has been known to malign the Black community as well as to say things like, “Racism has never been more insignificant a factor in one’s success than right now.”

Racism has been a dominant factor in America and all across the land.

In the last year, all over the country racism has been on display from the state house in the removal of statues and renaming historical racist remembrance to the White House at the Capitol on January 6.

The Black community can make a big difference in determines who wins this time all they have to do is get in line and cast their vote and just say no on the dot or the line.