Fresh off his success beating back a recall challenge, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says Democrats should not be “timid” about imposing strong COVID-19 mitigation measures.
During an interview with CBS News on Thursday, Newsom said, “We need to stiffen our spines and lean into keeping people safe and healthy.”
“We shouldn’t be timid in trying to protect people’s lives and mitigate the spread and transmission of this disease,” he continued.
He also said it is the “right thing to do” and a “motivating factor in this election.”
When asked if national Democrats have a “timidity problem,” Newsom said, “This has been hard. Look, I was recalled [in] no small degree because of our approach to this pandemic.”
“It’s not just about the formal authority, but it’s the moral authority that we have,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) tells @MajorCBS that Democrats “need to stiffen our spines” and not be “timid” about COVID mitigation efforts.
— The Recount (@therecount) September 16, 2021
“It’s not just about the formal authority … but it’s the moral authority that we have.” pic.twitter.com/KwRRUFZ4aC
The California governor’s comments come after he handily beat back a recall challenge. As CNN notes, outrage around the governor’s coronavirus restrictions helped fuel the push to oust him.
Ahead of the election, Newsom warned that the Republicans running to replace him “support eliminating mask mandates in our public schools, eliminating vaccine verifications.”
“I have no interest in taking us off the COVID cliff,” he added.
President Joe Biden congratulated Newsom for his victory and said it was a “resounding win for the approach that he and I share to beating the pandemic: strong vaccine requirements, strong steps to reopen schools safely, and strong plans to distribute real medicines—not fake treatments—to help those who get sick.”
“The fact that voters in both traditionally Democratic and traditionally Republican parts of the state rejected the recall shows that Americans are unifying behind taking these steps to get the pandemic behind us,” he added.
Biden’s comments come after he announced new vaccine requirements and claimed he does not “know of any scientist out there in this field that doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested” to help stop the spread of the virus.