Gavin Newsom, governor of California, this week attacked the leaders of the recall campaign against him in a national TV blitz, claiming that they are anti-immigrants, affiliated with far-right militias and accept QAnon conspiracy theories.
The sincere backlash from the Democratic governor was his strongest yet against the attempt to remove him from office. It happened the same week organizers announced that they had met more than two million signatures to qualify the recall for the vote. Wednesday was the deadline to sign revocation requests, which must be verified by provincial election officials.
Newsom acknowledged that the campaign is likely to require the 1.5 million valid signatures to hold a by-election later this year.
Newsom’s attacks over the air were part of a larger effort this week by the governor and his Democratic allies in Congress and across the state to defend him and paint the leaders of the recall as extreme.
“The main proponent of this, and forgive me that it is only an objective truth. The main proponent of this repeal effort supports the placement of microchips in migrants, in immigrants,” Newsom claims on ABC’s The view on Tuesday.
The governor hereby complied with the challenging claim:
“The other proponents, the ten leading proponents, the people behind this, are members of the Three Percenters, the right-wing military group; the Proud Boys [who] supports the uprising, [who] are people who literally enthusiastically support QAnon conspiracies. And so that’s the origin. ”
Newsom has made similar allegations about MSNBC and CNN.
Many remind fans Newsom rejects claims this week. They said the campaign was not fueled by extremists, but by Californians who are fed up with the governor’s strict home orders, blaming them for crippling cases. Many are also frustrated that Newsom has waited so long to press that students return to schools in person.
We wanted to know, did the governor get his facts right?
Did the principal recall the proponent that they wanted to do ‘migrants with microchips’?
There is truth in this first provocative assertion.
According to Orrin Heatlie, a retired sheriff in Yolo County, is the main organizer of the recall campaign. website.
In June 2019, he posted on Facebook: “Microchip all illegal immigrants. It works! Just ask for animal control! Process photo, identify and implant it. ”
Screenshot of Facebook post of 2019 by Orrin Heatlie.
Heatlie has the Sacramento Bee his message was ‘hyperbole’ and that his Facebook account had been deleted. Dan Newman, the governor’s political campaign strategist, provided a screenshot of the post.
Randy Economy, senior adviser to the recall effort, said the campaign condemned “all forms of violence and all forms of extremism”.
Economy said the campaign does not conduct background checks on supporters, adding that any links organizers have with militia groups or comments against immigrants are not representative of the overall recall effort.
“The governor is trying to intimidate people and dig their background to destroy their character,” he said. “He’s trying to say that we’re all bad doers and bad people and crooks and criminals. That’s just what he does. ”
Asked about Heatlie’s Facebook message, Economy said: “I don’t think he was very serious about it.”
Are the recall leaders attached to right-wing militias?
There is also evidence to support this claim.
In January, the Los Angeles Times published on investigation into the background of the recall leaders. The newspaper identified Aaron Bate, an organizer for the recall of El Dorado County, as a Three Percent.
Three percent are ‘extremists against the government who are part of the militia movement’ and ‘have a record of criminal activity ranging from gun violations to terrorist conspiracies and attacks’, according to the Anti-Defamation League website.
Asset disputes the characterization of the group and tells the Times it is not a militia or far-right.
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in Cal State San Bernardino, described the Three Percenters as “an anti-government paramilitary group that promotes the idea that violence is legal to combat gun control laws.”
He said that Newsom’s statements as an excessive view, although there are certainly extremists, among the larger group of supporters of the recall. ”
Nathan Click, also a campaign strategist for Newsom, pointed to what he described as another link between recall leaders and the Three Percent. He said the group’s January newsletter praised work by Dan Seoane, which is as the author listed of the press releases of the recall campaign.
Economics describes Seoane as a memory volunteer.
Do recall leaders support QAnon conspiracy theories?
Earlier this year, the Facebook pages of the recall campaign repeated a number of QAnon conspiracy theories, such as the unfounded allegation that the presidential election was impeccable, according to Times investigation.
“These pages also compared the daily disruption of COVID-19 to the Holocaust and the governor to Hitler, who portrayed their struggle as tantamount to the massacre of 6 million Jews,” the article continued.
At the end of January, the recall campaign’s Instagram account shared a false claim that Facebook attempted to “shut down” the attempt to remove Newsom when it stopped accepting ads for revocation. In fact, last fall, the social media company stopped running political ads regardless of party affiliation and did not single out the recall effort.
Kim Nalder, a professor in the Sacramento state who studies political psychology and disinformation, said the governor’s descriptions of the organizers of recall as linked to militias and QAnon are accurate to a point.
‘I think it’s pretty legal to tie the initials [recall[ effort to those groups,” Nalder said. “I think it becomes less persuasive when you get to the current movement, which has expanded far beyond those groups.”
Nalder said she’s examined images from the recall rallies and signature gathering events.
“You do see people wearing the 1776 gear, which is associated with the Three Percenters, the Betsy Ross flag, which is also associated with the Three Percenters,” she added. “And Q[Anon] content, Q flags, too. ”
Although there is evidence to support Newsom’s statements, some bizarre allegations by Democrats about the repeal have backfired on the party. In January, California Democratic Party chairman Rusty Hicks described the effort as “the California coup.”
A coup is the violent overthrow of a government. A revocation is nothing else. It is a legal process that asks voters to decide if they want to remove an elected official at the ballot box. We reviewed Hicks’ statement Pants on fire.
Wesley Hussey, a professor of political science in the state of Sacramento who is monitoring the repeal, said he is not aware of any direct ties between the leaders of the repeal and militias.
He expects, however, that the governor will take any compounds, no matter how large or small, and use them to his advantage.
‘The governor is going to try to tie the recall attempt to the extreme right. It’s politically smart, “Hussey said. “These groups are incredibly narrow and dangerous.”
Source list
Government Gavin Newsom, interview on ABCs The view, 16 March 2021
Gavin Newsom Government, MSNBC Interview The ReidOut with Joy Reid, March 15, 2021.
Gavin Newsom Government, CNN Interview Starring Jake Tapper, March 16, 2021.
Randy Economy, Senior Advisor Newsom Recall Campaign, Telephone Interview March 17, 2021
Nathan Click and Dan Newman, Newsom Campaign Strategies, Email Interviews, March 16, 2021
Kim Nalder, Professor of Political Science, Sacramento State University, Video Interview, March 16, 2021.
Wesley Hussey, Professor of Political Science, Sacramento State University, Video Interview, March 16, 2021.
Brian Levin, Director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, Cal State San Bernardino, email interview on March 16, 2021.
Orrin Heatlie, screenshot from Facebook post, June 2019.
Three percent, Newsletter January 2020
Los Angeles Times, Far-right movements, including QAnon, revoke virus skeptics linked to Newsom, 23 January 2021
Sacramento Bee, Fact check: Is Gavin Newsom right that a reminder leader suggested that immigrants want to make microchips ?, 16 March 2021
PolitiFact California, no, Facebook did not try to recall Gavin Newsom, February 2, 2021
PolitiFact California, no, attempts to overthrow the Government of California Newsom are not ‘coup’, January 13, 2021
Newsweek, reminiscent of Gavin Newsom movement, features proud boys and man named BLM Black KKK, 28 January 2021
Politico, French laundry-snafu reignites longshot Newsom recall drive, 23 November 2021
Democrats in Politico, California, try to tie Newsom remembrance to attack on Capitol, January 13, 2021