Out of the seven leading candidates for California governor, Tom Steyer and Katie Porter were the only two to really take aim at President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s debate.
CNN’s Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins first asked former Congresswoman Porter if her guiding principle in dealing with the president for his last two years in office would be “F–k Trump,” as she had previously stated in a campaign email blast.
Porter said that Trump has hurt California “again and again,” and that she will “absolutely stand up to him.” In fact, she also doubled down on her previous rhetoric around the president, noting, “If he’s going to attack California, yeah, ‘F’ him.”
Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire, expressed an equally heated sentiment during the debate, blasting Trump as a “crook” that is making life harder in California in a variety of ways.
The businessman specifically criticized Trump for the war in Iran and for “kicking people off healthcare,” stating, “He’s a bully, and the only thing you can do is stand up to him.”
However, Steyer and Porter’s fellow gubernatorial hopefuls took far softer stances Tuesday night, with some even touting their close relationships with the president.
Specifically, Republican candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who is endorsed by Trump, said that he will work closely with the Trump administration if elected governor. Meanwhile, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told Collins and viewers at home that they would not hear “one word from me about Trump, Biden or anyone else.”
While former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra defended that he has displayed how he will stand up to the president in his previous roles, citing that his past as California attorney general saw him go “toe to toe” with Trump in court over 120 times, it didn’t really illuminate his plans for future face-offs with the president.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said that he also sued the Trump administration multiple times during his stint as mayor, noting he increased funding for immigrant neighbors and prohibited ICE from using “city property as a staging area.”
“The best resistance is delivering results showing that California’s progressive values work in practice,” he said. “Real results, not a lot of rhetoric – that’s not going to beat Donald Trump.”
A notably snoozy response to an all-around dull debate.
Still, it’s worth highlighting that moderators Collins and CNN’s Elex Michaelson ran a far tighter ship than last week’s debate, controlling cross-talk and interruptions between candidates.
The two-hour debate was available to watch on CNN.
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