Actor Mel Gibson joins effort to recall Newsom following LA wildfires
Efforts grow to recall Newsom
Following the LA wildfires, efforts have been renewed to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. One of those supporters includes actor Mel Gibson who lost his home in the Palisades Fire.
LOS ANGELES - Following the LA wildfires, efforts were renewed to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom over his handling of the fires. Actor Mel Gibson is now joining in on that effort after having lost his Malibu home.
What they're saying:
"The firefighters, I have to say they were practically in tears. You know why? Because they thought they had let us down. I want to say loudly right here. You did not let us down," Gibson said during a press conference Wednesday.
"So are we supposed to believe that our elected officials didn't know that? You know, of course they knew that. Of course, Mayor Bass tweeted about the levels of danger days before she blew out of town," he added.
RELATED: New effort to recall Gov. Newsom now underway following LA fires
Gibson said the recent wildfires aren't the only reason Newsom should be recalled.
"He has brought us nothing but rampant crime, acute homelessness, horrendous inflation. I mean the industry I work in, the film industry, this used to be the Mecca of filmdom. It is no more."
The other side:
Newsom's office released a statement reading,"Governor Newsom is focused on leading the state and the recovery from the LA fires - not politics. Readers still should have the context that the same group of far right MAGA acolytes have launched 7 different recall attempts against the governor since he’s taken office, each of which have failed spectacularly. Even Republican Party leaders have criticized these repeated attempts as a brazen campaign finance "grift," and the recall organizers have been sued by their own donors for pocketing funds raised previously. For example, the recall organizers didn’t even turn in a single signature in their last attempt in 2024, and just a few weeks ago their petition was rejected by the Secretary of State for failing to follow simple signature rules."
Recall effort ignited
What we know:
The recall effort is being led by a group named ‘Saving California’ who say Newsom's mismanagement helped fuel the destructive and deadly LA County wildfires.
Organizers of Saving California say this time they hope to succeed, given everything that has happened in the state from the wildfires to crime.
RELATED: 125K sign petition demanding LA Mayor Karen Bass resign over fire response
"So this is going to cost, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars to do this recall. Well, you know what? So be it. He is just going to spend $40 billion on things. We don't have a clue what's in that package," said Randy Economy, Chairman of Saving California. He also led the 2021 recall effort.
Previous recall attempts
Since 2019, there have been eight attempts to recall Newsom and only one of those attempts made it onto the ballot when conservative radio host Larry Elder entered the race in 2021. However, Newsom claimed victory.