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Caitlyn Jenner fumes over Newsom surviving recall after getting 1.1% of vote to replace him

‘I can’t believe that this many people actually voted to keep him in office’

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Wednesday 15 September 2021 10:58 EDT
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Caitlin Jenner fumes over Gavin Newsom surviving recall

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Republican California gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner fumed after the state’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom survived the effort to recall him.

With 68 per cent of the votes reported, 63.9 per cent of voters in the Golden State voted “no” when asked whether Mr Newsom should be recalled. Those who voted “yes” made up 36.1 per cent of the electorate.

Ms Jenner received 1.1 per cent of the votes from those who chose to vote for a possible replacement for Mr Newsom. Out of the 46 people on the ballot, more than half of whom were Republican, Ms Jenner was in 13th place as 68 per cent of the votes had been reported.

The leading replacement candidate, Republican Larry Elder, had received 46.9 per cent of the vote. He conceded the race as it became clear Californians were not going to vote to recall Mr Newsom.

Ms Jenner told supporters and reporters on Tuesday night that Mr Newsom “didn’t campaign on not one of his successes, because he doesn’t have any”.

“I can’t believe that this many people actually voted to keep him in office,” Ms Jenner said. “It’s a shame, honestly, it’s a shame. You kind of get the government you deserve.”

She announced that she was running for governor in April, and immediately garnered a lot of media attention. She left the campaign trail to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in Australia and was criticised after speaking to Sean Hannity of Fox News in her private aeroplane hangar, complaining about how others who also own their own planes were leaving California because of the homelessness crisis in the state.

“When I decided to do this, I was coming in as an outsider,” Ms Jenner said. “I’ve been around politics a long time, but never actually running for office.

“And I thought I really needed some great people to surround me, to help me get through this, that know the ins and outs of politics.

“And I was able to assemble a great team, a great group of people. And I have to thank all of them, for giving me the guidance, the help, the work on issues. To find out where the issues are, what do we need to fight for,” she added.

On Tuesday, as the polls started to open, Ms Jenner told Newsmax: “Honestly, every place I go, I mean, on the street, here and there, the people, they’re all coming up to me and saying, ‘We gotta get rid of this guy. We gotta recall Gavin Newsom.’ I’ve only had one person come up to me in the last five months and say, ‘I think he’s doing a great job.’ That just doesn’t happen. Everybody knows he’s doing a horrible job.”

“The guy has been a hypocrite. He’s destroyed this state,” she continued. “The state’s been going downhill for years and it’s only accelerated under his rule. And he’s like a dictator sitting up there. One set of rules for him and the rest of them for everybody.”

“If he doesn’t get recalled, I pity the people of California. I mean, I think he’s gonna be emboldened and come down on us even worse, with more mandates, more this. It’s not gonna be pretty,” she said on Tuesday.

Mr Newsom is up for his regularly scheduled reelection in 2022. Newsmax host Eric Bolling asked Ms Jenner if she would consider running against Mr Newsom again or for a congressional seat.

“One thing I can say is I have thoroughly enjoyed this process. It has been uplifting, rewarding,” she said.

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