Sanders joins effort to save Newsom, calls recall initiative "bold-faced Republican power grab'

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and democratic socialist, is now behind the effort to stop the ouster of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling the recall initiative a "bold-faced Republican power grab." 

Sanders makes the accusation in a TV and online ad released Monday, about two weeks before final ballots are cast Sept. 14 in the initiative.

"At this unprecedented moment in American history, when we're trying to address the crisis of climate change, guarantee health care for all and pass real immigration reform, the last thing we need is to have some right-wing Republican governor in California” Sanders says in the ad by the Newsom team’s, "Stop the Republican Recall." 

Several Republicans are on the ballot to become the next governor if Californians recall Newsom – with conservative talk show radio host Larry Elder among the frontrunners.

California voters are already mailing in ballots on whether to recall the governor and pick a new one. 

The recall initiative was essentially the result of Newsom's missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic – including his lockdown measures and dining at a fancy Napa Valley-area restaurant in violation of his own COVID-19 health-safety mandates.

Polls show the balloting deadlocked on whether to keep or remove him – in the decidedly Blue state.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, among the country’s most progressive or liberal senators, recently said in a statement: “No one has fought harder than Gavin Newsom to keep Californians safe during the pandemic.

"While Trump made the pandemic worse, Gavin's actions saved countless lives and delivered billions in relief to help families and small businesses weather the storm. Now the same Republican, pro-Trump forces who lost the White House are trying to recall Gavin and install a Trump protege in the governor's office."