Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) noted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) prioritization of news media attention over responsible governance amid a snowfall and blizzard emergency in parts of California in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.
Kiley observed Newsom’s penchant for pursuing partisan political polarization.
“His focus is on trolling Ron DeSantis or Governor Abbott and taking shots at red states,” Kiley remarked. “He even says it that way — ‘red states’ — he’s always talking about statistics — red states versus blue states — trying to get himself into the national spotlight for whatever purpose.”
“That’s always been his focus — How do I get a headline? How do I create a partisan conflict? How do I get retweets on Twitter? — This is his focus. The idea of actually having to provide the sort of steady hand of, ‘Okay let’s direct the resources of the state to the folks who need them,’ that just doesn’t seem to be something he’s really very interested in, and so that’s I think why we keep seeing incidents like this happen again and again,” she added.
Kiley abstained from speculating on Newsom’s possible presidential ambitions when invited to do so.
Kiley, who represents California’s 3rd District, relayed how some of his constituents were isolated by heavy snowfall and unable to leave their homes for essential needs.
He said, “You have people who are elderly, who have no ability to even begin shoveling snow out of their driveways, and when they lose power, when they lose telecommunications, they really are isolated. That’s a very dire situation for people.”
“On the other end of my district, which is several hundred miles down the further south in Mono County, the situation is even more extreme,” he continued. “The snow there is really just cutting off all access for some folks, and it’s really been a struggle. It’s a brilliant all-hands-on-deck situation. We need all the help that we get possibly get.”
Newsom’s returned to California on Sunday after an unexplained days-long absence from the Golden State during the blizzards.
Kiley said, “I would have appreciated if the governor was more personally engaged on this rather than saying that it’s something that he felt comfortable vacating his office while it was going on.”
The California representative shared his support for a major disaster declaration, which would provide California with emergency funding and support from the federal government.
“We’re asking for a major disaster declaration,” he stated, “which the president has to accede to, and it has to be specifically requested by the governor. As far as I know , the lieutenant governor did not act on that during her brief stint here as governor the last couple of days.
He concluded, “This is just a matter of manpower and resources. … I’m hoping that the president will step forward — and first of all, that the governor will ask him to, and that the president will do so — because we need all the help we can get, right now.”
Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.