CBS reporter asks spokesman for Gavin Newsom recall effort if he's worried GOP has 'hijacked' movement

close

Video

Recall Gavin Newsom Campaign responds to pushback from California governor: 'Bring it on'

Randy Economy, senior adviser for Recall Gavin Newsom, calls for a debate with the California governor on the issues.

A CBS News reporter seemed concerned Wednesday that the recall effort against Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom will result in a Republican leader of the Golden State.

In a report that aired on "CBS This Morning," correspondent Carter Evans cited a statistic from the "Recall Gavin 2020" campaign that says "38%" of its signatures are from Democrats and Independents. He added that Democratic leaders are "skeptical" of the self-described broad coalition, citing a $250,000 donation to the effort from the Republican National Committee. 

"Is there a concern that this recall is being hijacked solely to get a Republican in office in a fairly Democratic state?" Evans asked Randy Economy of Recall Gavin 2020.

"We're concerned about that," Economy answered, "but again, the bottom line is there's a lot of people who want to get him out of office. Whether it be the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, we don't have any control over them."

NEWSOM RECALL EFFORT HITS DEADLINE AS ACTIVISTS SAY THEY HAVE ENOUGH SIGNATURES TO TRIGGER ELECTION

The recall movement has collected more than two million signatures over the past several weeks, exceeding the nearly 1.5 million needed to hold a recall election. 

County officials have until April 29 to validate the signatures and notify the secretary of state.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Though Newsom's various lockdown orders and COVID mandates generated ire among Californians, it wasn't until he was spotted at the fancy French Laundry restaurant in Napa County violating his own guidelines in November of last year that the movement gathered steam.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.