Arnold Schwarzenegger Dismisses Gavin Newsom’s ‘Ludicrous’ Claim That Republicans Are Behind His Recall
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, who served as the Republican governor of California from 2003 to 2011 after winning the state’s recall election, is sharing his thoughts on the 2021 California recall involving Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In an interview with Politico, Schwarzenegger weighed in on Newsom’s claim that the effort to recall him is a “Republican power grab’’ being led by far-right extremists.
“The Republican party is, like I have said, dying at the box office,” said Schwarzenegger. “This is the crazy thing here, when they say it’s a ‘power grab’ of the Republicans. Let me tell you, the [California] Republicans couldn’t even get anyone elected. It’s ludicrous — the Republican Party doesn’t exist. These are the signatures of the ordinary folks that have signed on.”
Schwarzenegger went on to say the recall “has nothing to do” with either political party, but rather “dissatisfaction” among the citizens.
“[The recall is] the people’s way of kind of letting off some steam, and then they decide: Do we want to follow through, or not follow through?” he added.
Schwarzenegger further dismissed the notion of a “far-right element” to the recall, adding, “What is it someone has to say when he wants to keep his job? He is going to paint the other side in a horrible way.”
One of Newsom’s biggest advantages is that there is no challenger with name recognition, and Schwarzenegger acknowledged that being both an “outsider” and a celebrity helped him unseat Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.
When asked if Newsom’s position was safe because there’s no “Schwarzenegger-like figure who can rally voters,” the former governor suggested, “What would happen if George Clooney would run for the governorship? What if Brad Pitt would run? If Oprah Winfrey would run? We don’t know, so there will be an interesting answer to do a poll like that.”
Schwarzenegger wouldn’t directly say whether Newsom “deserves” to be recalled, but he did admit that the governor is “handling this situation really well.”
“Newsom is doing something very smart, and that is that he is engaged now,” he added. “That is already a victory.”
As for what advice he has for Newsom, Schwarzenegger says he’s confident the governor will “jump into more action.”
“The only advice I have for him is that he’s doing a good job now,” he continued. “That he has improved his connection with the people, and that he should continue on being real — being himself, and to really always just think about the people — and not about the unions, not about the party, not about any of that — just the people. And to solve the problems. Solve the problems.”
When asked if he’ll endorse Newsom’s recall, Schwarzenegger said, “No, I don’t get involved in that at all. I try to be, in this case, the elder statesman, one that understands the phenomenon of a recall, that understands why people are dissatisfied, that understands what needs to be done and is not being done.”
