Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) dodged questions about a presidential run on Friday — before criticizing the Democratic Party for being too timid against Republicans.
Appearing on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Newsom defended his fight against red states because he “didn’t feel my party was doing enough.”
“The reason I started to go into those red states, the reason I started to take on [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, and the reason I started doing ads in those red states, is I didn’t feel my party was doing enough,” Newsom said. “It was CRT one year, and then it’s ESG, and then it’s DEI — anything with three letters, and these guys keep coming.”
“I just thought there was a little timidity in our party, and I thought we needed to call this stuff out,” Newsom added.
Last year, Newsom began touring Republican states to boost Democrats ahead of the 2024 election by launching the Campaign for Democracy. The move struck a chord with lawmakers of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and other red states leaders after he promised to take on “authoritarian leaders” that are targeting “our freedoms.”
“You want to talk about cancel culture? Look at the Republican Party,” Newsom said. “Ask Bud Light. Target. Disney. That’s just the private sector. Banning speech not just in the classroom but in the boardroom, as it relates to issues of race.”
Newsom said he’s tired of the Democratic Party constantly being “on our heels” and wanted to call out top Republicans for their actions.
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The California governor engaged in a heated debate with DeSantis last year on Fox News, taking jabs at their respective state’s economy and policies.
“I just felt like we needed to call that out as Democrats and put them on the defensive since we’re consistently on our heels as the Democratic Party, even though I think the facts bear out our case significantly better than the case on the other side,” Newsom added.
