Ron DeSantis is āfundamentally authoritarianā, but Donald Trumpās quest for āvengeanceā poses an even greater threat to democracy, Californiaās Democratic governor Gavin Newsom said on Sunday.
Newsom took aim at the leading two candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination during a hard-hitting and wide-ranging interview on NBCās Meet the Press, the final episode with its long-time host Chuck Todd.
āI worry about democracy,ā he said. āI worry about the fetishness for autocracy that weāre seeing not just from Trump, but around the world, and notably across this country.
āIāve made the point about DeSantis that I think heās functionally authoritarian. Iām worried more, in many respects, about Trumpism, which transcends well beyond his term and time in tenure.ā
Newsom added: āThe vengeance in Donald Trumpās heart right now is more of a threat.ā
I know Newsom is trying to jockey for a presidential bid, but I do worry what will replace him. Heās been in office through this whole MAGA uprising and his replacement could end up being some right wing chud.
By law he can only be Governor of California for two terms, so somebody has to replace him. On a quick glance, no Republican has won a state-wide election here since Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I found only one other since the 90s. A more conservative Democrat is a possibility, but Iām not worried a Republican would win here.
I think Arnold Schwarzenegger only won because of both name recognition and because of the fact that, for a Republican, he was pretty liberal in his policies and positions.
I liked how he started with a lot of conservative ideas, but after listening to experts about those topics, changed his mind.
le gaspue!
Also that election was crazyā¦ we had a ton of candidates and some were pretty out there just doing it for publicity, including some washed up actors and a pornstar.
There was also no real competition from Democrats as it was a recall election against a Dem incumbent.
Heās playing the āwhat if Biden trips down the stairs againā game.
Pretty good game to play.
There arenāt any right wing chuds getting elected in state level elections in California. We donāt do that shit here.
That said, Gavin is a sleaze and we donāt need any more of those at the top. Dude canāt keep it in his pants and boned his campaign managerās - more importantly his good friendās - wife. That sort of unforced error should be disqualifying. There are over 300 million people in this nation and I know we can find one to be President that doesnāt sleep around mind mindbogglingly stupid ways.
Ideally, sleazes arenāt electable. But, at this point, Iād vote for a sleaze that respect that wills of the people than a non-sleaze trying to destroy it. So, if Gavin is nominated, he gets my vote over any Republicans.
I voted for Joe Biden, and that was hard, but at least I picked the correct choice given the two options.
Iām not saying donāt vote for him but heās not getting my vote in the primaries, and Iād encourage everyone to look at other options. I think Elizabeth Warren would be good; she has concrete policy proposals.
I think Gavin Newsom is likely to take the nomination. He isnāt getting my vote either, and my vote depends on the rosters thatās up.
So many people actually prefer sleazy politicians, though. Trump is the obvious example, but Silvio Berlusconi was really the master of exploiting his sleaze appeal.