California Lt. Gov. Newsom Seeks Common Ground With President Trump
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- While many top California Democrats are saying "resist" when it comes to dealing with President Trump, the front-running candidate for governor - Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom - is not one of them.
The former San Francisco mayor made it clear Tuesday he's no resister when it comes to trying to get along with the president.
Newsom is no fan of the president. But on Tuesday he told a gathering of the business group Bay Area Council in San Francisco that if elected governor, he's open to working with the president on issues where they agree.
The lieutenant governor said California is not as liberal as the conventional wisdom indicates. "We're a microcosm of America," said Newsom."It's not a blue state. It's a very red state with a blue coast. There's more of us living on the coast.
Newsom talked about the lack of civility in today's politics and said the problem isn't just people on the right.
"We need to treat people that don't go to college a lot better as well in this country," said Newsom, a member of the University of California Board of Regents. "You can make a life without getting a UC degree. You can make a life without getting a degree, period. I think Democrats need to be a little more respectful to folks that may not think like you and me. And so I think this is on us, not just them.
And despite his differences with Trump, Newsom doesn't want to create unnecessary fights.
"If Donald Trump attacks the values and the people of this state, I'm gonna have the back of folks and I'm gonna fight like mad," said Newsom. "But I'm not waking up every day considering which version of the crowbar I can put in the spokes of his wheel."
Newsom said the president has talked about plans that could actually be good for California.
"I'd like to be able to work with him on apprenticeships. He came out with a lot of interesting ideas on apprenticeships when he was running," said Newsom. "Haven't heard from him since. He came out with a lot of ideas on his infrastructure - it seems like every other week it's infrastructure week - says all the right things, just hasn't done the right things on that."
And Newsom said he's open to working with the White House where it makes sense.
"But at least on some issues, maybe there's something percolating," he said. "Maybe, you know, ultimately we can find ways of advantaging a collective agenda. We're all Americans after all."
Newsom and Trump still remain far apart on issues, and today Newsom also criticized the president's treatment of Sen. John McCain, and his accusations that Google censors conservative media.
Last year, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein took heat from Democrats when she said Trump could learn to be a good president. But Newsom is running against a Republican - John Cox - and Democrats who are upset with Newsom over his comments are still probably not going to vote for Cox.
