Governor Gavin Newsom compared California’s COVID-19 rates to much higher ones in states with conservative governors Tuesday.
He warned that he could be replaced in the upcoming recall with a Republican who would make the Golden State’s response more like Texas or Florida’s. “I want to remind people that we have a choice in the state of California,” he said, “whether to walk down the path where we’re ideological and political about our approach to keeping healthcare safe, or continuing down the path that we’re on here in the state of California that is proving itself.”
Newsom then used those comparisons as an argument against his chief Republican opponent Larry Elder, and the recall election itself, according to Deadline. Elder states on his campaign website that “vaccines are effective” and should be encouraged, but “Californians who assume the risk of not wearing a mask or not getting vaccinated should not be forced to do so.”