Comments made by California Gov. Gavin Newsom sparked some fiery debate by the panel of âThe View.â
Newsom spoke about 2026 midterm elections being âriggedâ in am interview with ABCâs Jonathan Karl, per Mediaite.
Newsom said President Donald Trumpâs plan to send âelection monitorsâ to California has him âscared to death.â He believes the election wonât be âfair and free.â
Afterplaying a clip if the interview, the panel went full throttle.
âHeâs worried,â Joy Behar said. âAre you as worried about it as he is? Or is he just going to make more Americans distrust the election process like Trump has been doing since he lost in 2020?â
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who is a former Trump staffer, spoke out against Newsomâ comments, calling them âwholly irresponsible.â
She added Newsom âoversees elections in his own state. He oversees the cybersecurity infrastructure. He oversees the secretary of state, down to poll watchers, to election workers, Gavin Newsom has a lot of power.â
âHe could at minimum say, âCalifornia will have a free and fair election and Iâll work with every governor to make sure thereâs no efforts to undermine them.â But thatâs not what heâs doing,â Griffin said.
Sunny Hostin then asked, âHow does he do that when Donald Trump is sending federal monitors?â
âBecause heâs the chief executive of the state. Monitors â we need to know what that means. Itâs an alarming phrase,â Griffin replied.
âDoesnât it sound like election intimidators?â Behar asked.
âIt reminds me of the gerrymandering debate. Everyone is angry when Texas redraws congressional maps to add more Republican seats, âTheyâre cheating, itâs rigged,â so, California responds by cheating and rigging by adding more Democrat seats,ââ Griffin said.
âSo, what are they supposed to do, just lay back â,â Behar started to say before Hostin added, âJust let them do it?â
âNo!â Griffin exclaimed. âYouâre supposed to safely secure your elections and tell your voters you can trust voting in California.â
Behar returned to gerrymandering, stating, âThe gerrymandering! What are you supposed to do with that?â
âYou should challenge it at the state level. Former governor Schwarzenegger talked about this. Thereâs a process to do it in California. Thereâs a process in Texas. Change the laws so that people cannot â,â Griffin said.
âYou canât change the laws when Republicans are in charge in Texas. You canât do it!â Hostin said.
Watch:
Californiaâs Attorney General Rob Bonta said heâll deploy his own observers to watch over Trumpâs election monitors during the upcoming elections.
