California Governor Gavin Newsom received a strong endorsement from President Joe Biden on Tuesday when White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted the government’s opposition to a recall effort.
Psaki tweeted that Biden “clearly opposes any effort to revoke” Newsom hours after she was asked about Biden’s position in the recall campaign at a briefing.
“In addition to sharing a commitment to a number of issues with @GavinNewsom, from addressing the climate crisis to controlling the pandemic, @POTUS is clearly opposed to any effort to revoke @GavinNewsom,” said the tweet.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Newsom, a Democrat, has faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his way of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which affected California’s economy and killed more than 44,000 people across the state, according to NBC News counts .
California has the highest number of coronavirus cases in any state, with more than 3.4 million confirmed infections.
As of this week, the recall campaign has collected about 1.5 million signatures needed to force a special election, said Anne Dunsmore, campaign manager for Rescue California, one of the organizations that support the recall effort.
The recall organizers have until mid-March to send 1.5 million certified signatures. Experts said the campaign will need to send a surplus of subscriptions to ensure it meets the limit set by state officials.
Dunsmore said Biden’s recall attempt shows that Newsom is taking the threat seriously.
“They are calling for big guns,” she said. “It says a lot. It means the game has started.”
Newsom and the Biden government remained close allies. Newsom enthusiastically supported Senator Kamala Harris of California as Biden’s choice for vice president. Prior to that, Newsom and Harris worked together when Harris was a district attorney for San Francisco during Newsom’s term as mayor.
Last week, the Biden government announced that the federal government would open its first vaccination sites in California as part of its effort to increase vaccinations. The sites will be in Oakland and Los Angeles, close to communities hard hit by the pandemic.
“From the beginning, [Newsom] tried to make it political, “Dunsmore said of the recall.” These are the practical problems people are having. This is not Biden against Trump. “
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The recall organizers raised about $ 3.4 million, Dunsmore said. Although the effort began as a conservative-led initiative, more Democrats and independents are joining the campaign. More than 20% of the signatures collected appear to be from people without party affiliation and 10% are Democrats, said Dunsmore.
The non-partisan California Institute of Public Policy found in a survey released last week that 54% of Californians approve of Newsom’s job performance, up from 65% in May.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, has been one of Newsom’s biggest critics, accusing him of keeping schools closed for too long, harming the restaurant industry by banning indoor dining and changing food strategies. vaccinations that confused and frustrated millions of Californians. Faulconer announced his intention to run against Newsom in a revocation election last week. He said that if the recall effort fails, he will run against Newsom next year when he runs for re-election.