Reporters Grill Governor Gavin Newsom On His Redistricting Proposal To Counter Texas

Forbes Breaking News

4 months ago

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) held a press briefing on Thursday to discuss redistricting.

Transcript

00:00We'll be joined in a moment by Senator Pity of just a few logistic points that

00:05were not brought up in the conversation a moment ago on Monday and we have

00:11members of legislature with us on Monday the legislature will introduce a number

00:16of bills with four key components to create the special election to fund the

00:21election special election framework for the maps and the constitutional amendment

00:26itself that would affirm our support for nationalized independent redistricting

00:30and affirm our support for a temporary measure to move forward with these

00:36congressional maps being redrawn mid-decade but the Commission continuing

00:41its work in 2030 we expect that the legislature will move quickly and

00:46anticipate by the end of next week that they will complete that work the maps

00:52will present themselves for the next few days I know people are eager to see

00:56the maps we anticipate these maps will completely neuter and neutralize what is

01:02happening in Texas this does not go forward I want to remind everybody

01:06unless one of these other states move forward there's still an exit ramp not

01:11just Texas but Missouri as I mentioned or Florida Indiana these other states that

01:16are considering doing the unprecedented rigging their elections with midterm

01:19redistricting so we're hopeful they don't move forward if that's the case this

01:24effort will not need be necessary but we're not waiting and we're not

01:30anticipating that these states will be passive particularly with the directive

01:35coming from President Donald Trump with that we're happy to answer the questions

01:39so the you said in the moment ago President Trump is underwater on the economy he's

01:45underwater on immigration historically midterms are very bad for the party of

01:51power Bush Clinton Obama why not put this effort you could win some of these seats in Texas if this is a wave

02:00election you could win 40 seats would you look back on this as a wasted effort quite the

02:06contrary I mean five seats is a magic number 2020 five seats flip five seats

02:102022 it's three seats right now he knows the margin of error was very specific he

02:16wanted five seats he was very specific when he assigned JD Vance not to go to the

02:21memorials and funerals of people who lost their lives in the floods in Texas but

02:25rather to spend the time in Indiana to try to rig the elections in Indiana and

02:30redistrict there he knew exactly what he's doing as it relates to Florida so this is

02:34not just about Texas this is about running away with this system and rigging it

02:40midterm so we're not going to sit back passively hoping that somehow conditions

02:45align with those that are living with I think a pre-existing condition that

02:51somehow everybody's playing fair Donald Trump does not play fair you've seen that

02:54happen over and over again and it's I'm just not going to sit back and and be

03:01complicit I don't think the people in the state of California going to be

03:04complicit this November and watch this system get rigged and watch our

03:09democracy fail

03:10governor does the trigger go into place if any Republican state does this yes

03:15and so and are you confident that you have all the votes in the legislature and

03:20this is going to pass well I have the confidence the legislative leadership a

03:24number of them are assembled here today including the speaker and the pro tem that

03:28were a press conference last week and they have confidence in their caucuses we've

03:32been working closely with the caucuses in both houses for some time and we

03:36believe we'll have the two-thirds to allow the people to decide for themselves

03:40governor if Trump is doing this he's not going to stop with Texas are you calling on

03:44other blue states to do this now I think we you got to meet fire with fire I mean

03:50this is a break the glass moment for our democracy for our nation the world's

03:55watching us and so absolutely again it's it's look identifying a problem is one

04:01thing you got to do something about it so this is about action and and that's

04:06what we're doing here in California it's about resolve it's about how it's not

04:12about should we meet fire with fire it's about how we actually achieve it and so

04:18that's that's my hope and my expectation that other states will follow suit

04:22just in terms of what you're just talking about I mean what is the Democrats

04:29engage here because Republicans do have more options for redistricting in states like Ohio

04:34you know Indiana Missouri and there are a lot bigger legal hurdles for Democrats in states

04:40like New York New Jersey I mean what is the end game do you feel like you can win this

04:46we got to win I mean democracy is counting on something the founding fathers not live and die

04:51to see this moment and so there's just too much at stake and you know we can roll over and say boy

04:58maybe if we don't they won't continue this process well beyond Texas you know for a fact they will

05:05they'll run up the score regardless at least California could push back and neutralize Texas

05:10and once a mind is stretched never goes back to its original form the power of emulation

05:15success leaves clues if we're successful November I imagine other states may consider their own paths

05:21some could happen as late as January some could happen earlier many states have not dissimilar

05:28independent redistricting commissions they could take a look exactly how we process this and how we

05:34approached it other states are are differently situated um but uh look end of the day we're just

05:41they they count us count on us to continue to say one thing and do another that's what's different

05:50about this we're not just asserting ourselves uh we're going to prove ourselves this November

05:56governor's immigration counties in California to say that the state can't afford this the

06:01registrar in Riverside County said it's going to cost 16 million dollars the special election what's

06:06the response well the state of California is going to fund that and that's what the bill is all about

06:11so yes it's deeply disingenuous and we better do it and they and uh no price tag for democracy

06:18and uh this individual should know as he's a what uh the registrar voters he should know the rules

06:26imagine that's a job description as well the state will be funding

06:30governor there was a nice book in with governor schwarzenegger about your proposal i had a chance

06:34to to dialogue with the governor uh as you know as someone uh that opposed very publicly attempts to

06:41roll back independent redistricting that voted for them in the first place i share

06:46his vision and i've made that clear publicly and i've made that clear to him privately and that's

06:51why it was important to talk to him specifically about the fact that we're affirming uh our independent

06:57commission and we're calling for a national independent commission as well well i think it's

07:02pretty sick and pathetic and it just said everything you need to know the setting that we're under

07:08that they chose the time manner and place to send their district director outside right when we're

07:15about to have this press card should everything you know about donald trump's america and that was

07:20top down you know that for a fact they'll deny it i'm sure maybe they won't deny it should everything

07:25you know about the authoritarian tendencies of the president united states i said in a moment ago wake

07:31up america wake up you will not have a country if he rigs this election you will have a president

07:37will be running for a third term mark my word i wasn't exaggerating when i said that i received in the

07:43mail a trump 2028 ad from one of his biggest supporters these guys are not screwing around

07:49the rules do not apply to him the most corrupt president in history he doesn't believe in free

07:56enterprise crony capitalism he is wrecking this country wrecking the economy it's a lawless president

08:04wake up america wake up to what's going on congress here we know that congressman kiley has

08:11suggested that this is a bad idea for everybody obviously he could end up losing his job he's

08:15interested in this but are there other republican members that are maybe saying this is not a good

08:20idea uh that that they're uncomfortable with this whole concept what are you hearing behind the scenes

08:26from your colleagues so a kevin kiley miraculously came up with this piece of legislation because he

08:32realized that his district was in question that's about as self-interested as you can be

08:37b b my colleagues will confirm this we had our weekly call with our democratic caucus and every

08:45single one of them was grateful that california was stepping up and fighting fire with fire they said

08:52can you lean in anymore because we need a playbook for how we can fight in our states the governor is

09:00correct florida is now in play indiana is in play missouri is in play ohio is in play and not only are

09:10they working to gerrymander the maps to give republicans more seats but they are also doing it to silence

09:18latino representatives and to get rid of african american representatives so it is not only a classist

09:25playbook but it is a race-based playbook because they know who the folks are who show up and who

09:32are voting to keep planned parenthood to keep health care to make sure that costs are down to make sure

09:39that we have jobs to make sure that we have manufacturing so yes republicans are now crying foul

09:45but they were not crying foul when they voted for the big ugly bill they were not crying foul when they

09:50voted to defund medicaid when they voted to get rid of social security when they have supported every

09:59single thing and have been complicit with every single unlawful illegal unconstitutional thing that

10:04this president has been doing and they have been silent so don't give me your crocodile tears when all

10:11of a sudden you want to come up with a piece of legislation that says slow your roll how about

10:16passing the john lewis voting rights act how about calling out governor abbott how about calling out

10:23what this president is doing if you are so excited about what you've been doing in the past seven

10:30months then run on that record but please do not come for california and do not come for the voters

10:37because the voters should have the right to vote for who they want to not to be given

10:43so folks are united folks are asking california to lean in and do more and we're saying we are

10:58giving you all that we've got and we are standing with our governor and we are asking other states

11:04to step in and find a way to do it as well because this is not just about california this is about this

11:10entire country if i can just quickly respond to that for a decade so lofgren has led us i've joined her

11:20in legislation to require

11:24so let me just say first of all this press conference that we had today led by our governor

11:44is the kind of leadership that's going to determine the direction of this country i am very pleased that

11:52Governor Newsom is providing the leadership not only for California but

11:57for the rest of this nation who are all upset about the chaotic situation that

12:04we're in in this country. Let me just say that we here in California have

12:10witnessed the President of the United States sending in the National Guard,

12:16sending in the Marines to deal with what problem? There is no problem about danger

12:24and violence. Of course there is some opportunities for ICE and others to say

12:31that they are doing what they need to do, what should be done, but they cannot

12:36continue to be masked, in bands, pulling people off the street, intimidating

12:43people, going into supermarkets and other places where they are trying to

12:50identify those that they think should be deported. Now what I think America should

12:58be focused on is is this really a national effort of the President of the United

13:06States particularly pointed toward Latinos and African Americans in

13:13particular whom he hates. I want you to know that while we're talking about

13:18California just yesterday the President of the United States literally

13:24federalized the police in Washington DC. We know why he's doing this. As a matter of

13:30fact they were in front of Whole Foods last night asking black people for their

13:35identification. He's trying to provoke us but we're smarter than that. We're not

13:40going to be provoked, we're going to fight him, but we're not going to allow him to

13:45draw us into the kind of provocation that will cause us to be shot down in the

13:51streets of our country. We know that this President would love to call martial

13:56order and to say that he's protecting the citizens against us, those that he had

14:02deemed are part of DEI diversity and inclusion and all of that. But what you

14:08heard today was California organized. What you heard today was our Citizens

14:17Commission is prepared to work with us to ensure that we do it the right way. The

14:24governor has described I think in very detail how we are going to make sure that

14:30the people of California, the people are going to make the decision. I want you to

14:36know the Democratic caucus of California, we are organized, we're ready, and we're

14:42working with the governor and we are not only organized but we are prepared to move

14:48in a way that will include all of the people in this decision that has to be made.

14:54Texas may be big and people may think that they got power, they ain't seen nothing

15:01yet. They haven't seen what happens when we get organized here in the state of

15:06California. Let me just wrap this up by saying I warned this country long before

15:13people understood how dangerous he is. This man is dangerous, not only is he using

15:19executive orders by which to try and rule and disregard the legislature, the

15:27judiciary, and all of that. The fact that he has intimidated private law firms going

15:33into our financial institutions and intimidating them shows you that you have

15:39what would want to be a dictator in this country. And so I am very pleased to be here

15:46today. Everybody knows I ain't scared of nobody. Never have been and never will be.

15:52And I will do everything that I can to use my leadership and my influence working

15:59with the governor to ensure that California takes their playbook and play

16:04it back on them. Thank you very much. I just want to add one point and I think it

16:11is central to why our democracy is in trouble and that is that our economy has

16:14simply not been working for millions of Americans. And the problem we have today is

16:18not the same problem we had during the Great Recession when people were out of

16:22work. The problem today is not that people are out of work. The problem today is that

16:26they are working and they can still barely get by. Young people can't afford a place

16:31to live. People can't afford their health insurance premiums. Food prices continue to

16:36go up as do energy costs. And this is why I think we are struggling as a country. When

16:43people see the quality of life that their parents enjoyed is better than what they

16:46have, all too many are eager or willing to entertain any demagogue who comes along

16:52promising that they alone can fix it. The problem is he is not fixing it. This is not the

16:59right answer. He is not fixing it. Our lives are simply getting more difficult as the

17:04American people. Costs continue to rise. And his policies have been an abject failure.

17:12The tariff wars, we are only beginning to feel the cost increases that are resulting from

17:16his tariffs. He is deeply unpopular and rather than trying to improve the law of the American

17:23people and address these economic challenges, instead he has decided the only way he can maintain

17:29his grip on power with his increasing unpopularity is by trying to redraw the lines in another

17:36state. And this is why California has to fight back. He is never going to take meaningful action to

17:42deal with the ordinary challenges facing Californians or the American people. He wants to instead redraw

17:48the lines in Texas to keep him in power and keep those deeply unpopular failed policies moving forward.

17:56But we are determined here in California to stop him.

17:59Thank you, everyone. We are out of time.

18:03I don't know. I hope it's a wake-up call to the President of the United States. I'm sort of following

18:17his example. If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns

18:24about what he's putting out as president. So to the extent it's gotten some attention,

18:30I'm pleased. But I think the deeper question is, how have we allowed the normalization

18:37of his tweets through social posts over the course of the last many years to go without

18:44similar scrutiny and notice?

Reporters Grill Governor Gavin Newsom On His Redistricting Proposal To Counter Texas

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