SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Campaign season is in full swing, and now that the California Republican Party endorsed their favorite candidate, Governor Gavin Newsom is not holding back.
Tuesday afternoon, Newsom joined a virtual event with volunteers to encourage them to start getting to work.
"You guys are doers, not dreamers," Newsom said enthusiastically. "You take action."
He highlighted what he called the “stakes” in this election: The republican endorsement of Brian Dahle.
“This guy is Trump throwing through," said Newsom. "He hasn’t even publicly acknowledged Joe Biden as our president, absolutely was supportive of January 6."
I brought what he said directly to Senator Dahle, who is respected by many in the state legislature as a politician who works across the aisle.
He authored the Democratic bill in 2016 that got rid of surprise medical bills.
“Look, I'm a Republican. I voted for Donald Trump," said Dahle. "Do I like what he says all the time? No. But he was my candidate, and he ran for office, and I supported it.”
As far as not denouncing January 6, or even being supportive of it?
"If you were the people that were there on January 6, that were there exercising their free speech right, that's fine," said Dahle. "But the people that broke the law, they need to be punished. There's an investigation going on right now."
He clarified his denouncement.
"If you broke the law, and you were beating people up and breaking windows, yeah, I support law enforcement," he said.
Does he acknowledge Joe Biden as president?
"Hey, Joe Biden is our president, no doubt," said Dahle. "I think a lot of people in America are wishing they made a different choice, looking at his polling ratings."
UC San Diego Political Science Department Dean, Thad Kousser said, the timing of Dahle answering the questions is important.
“It's notable that Brian Dahle is, for the first time that I've seen, gone on record calling out January 6 only after he got the Republican nomination at the GOP convention last weekend," said Kousser. "It's still an important step, right? He now is almost assured a spot on the November ballot so he's got to start running to the center."
Kousser said it’s nearly impossible as a Republican not to acknowledge Donald Trump and his policies, but distancing himself at the same time is also a smart move in the (Blue) Golden State.