A political earthquake is shaking California as a massive recall effort against liberal Governor Gavin Newsom has surged past the needed 1.5 million signatures to qualify for a fall ballot. The networks have mostly stayed silent on the unpopular Democrat’s fall (or relegated it to Sunday talk shows). But on Wednesday, as the deadline for signatures arrived with over two million turned in, CBS offered a full report. Reporter Carter Evans fretted that Republicans are “hijacking” the effort in order to install a GOP governor.
Evans worried, “The recall campaigns claims 38 percent of signatures are from Democrats and independents. But Democratic leaders are skeptical and point to donations like $250,000 from the Republican National Committee.” Delving into conspiracy thinking, Evans asked one of the recall leaders: “Is there a concern that this recall is being hijacked solely to get a Republican in office in a fairly Democratic state?”