California governor Gavin Newsom was nearly brought to tears during a CBS interview when he was asked if the ‘red wave’ was real. Newsom admitted that the GOP takeover is happening and noted that he isn’t ‘paid’ to say that. Newsom alluded that he was told to say something else but he matters his way through the explanation and jumped right into blaming Democrats for failing.
“We’re getting crushed on narrative,” Newsom told CBS as he campaigns for Democrats across his state in races tighter than expected, adding that the midterms feel like a red wave.
“We’re going to have to do better, in terms of getting on the offense, and stop being on the damn defense,” the governor said.
“Look, I can be the cheerleader. I’m also pragmatic,” he said. “You feel it. It’s not just intellectualization based on polling.”
“You feel it,” he continued. “And it goes to my fundamental grievance with my damn party. We’re getting crushed on narrative. We’re going to have to do better in terms of getting on the offense and stop being on the damn defense.”
Things got weird when the interviewer asked Newsom to defend his support of a 2024 Biden run when none of the other Democrats want to even think about it. Newsom called a Biden presidency a ‘master call’ on how to lead… except all of that terrible communication, that is.
“I don’t think there’s been two years of more effective policy-making of a modern American president,” Newsom said. “It’s been a masterclass the last two years, not necessarily in effective communication and generating narrative, but in terms of the substance under the circumstance, with all the headwinds, the obfuscation and opposition. I think it’s been remarkable.”
Watch
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is campaigning for embattled Democrats in an effort to bail out a party he says is being "destroyed on messaging.” He spoke exclusively with @MajorCBS addressing questions about whether his political ambitions extend beyond the Golden State. pic.twitter.com/CzVdOhz7kX
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) November 1, 2022
You know, it was a super weird interview but I’m a little proud of Newsom. Most Democrats are denying that voters are leaning to the GOP to get them out of this Biden-crisis. At least Newsom understands where this whole thing is headed.