WATCH: Governor Newsom smears recall effort leaders as conspiracy theorists

Tapper interviewed California Governor Gavin Newsom about the petition recall effort against him. A successful one, in that it well exceeds the roughly 1.5 million people necessary.

In response, Newsom smeared the people leading the charge as someone “that believes we should microchip immigrants.” He said people that are part of the lead coalition behind the petition are “avid Proud Boy members,” as well as three percenters and supporters of QAnon, conspiracy theorists, and white supremacist groups.

Governor Newsom declared his labeling “factual” before going on to name Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Devin Nunes as part of this so-called plot against him.

Jake Tapper presses Newsom further and asks him what he thinks about the two million signatories of the recall effort. The CNN host expressed doubts that all of them were in fact Trump supporters, going on to even say he interviewed folks who believe that Newsom’s pandemic measures were too harsh and aggressive.

The California Governor pointed toward the widespread ignorance of everyone with regards to the pandemic at this time last year.

“I'm deeply mindful and I'm deeply respectful to all the anxieties that people have felt over the last year,” Newsom concludes without directly answering Tapper’s inquiry.

Recent events reflect the people’s motivation to join the recall effort. When it came to the lockdowns themselves, Governor Newsom timed his lifting of restrictions to sync with the Biden administration taking office. California restaurants and wineries even sued Newsom over in-person dining, a protocol that the governor himself was seen breaking. He’s also alleged to have awarded state contracts to businesses and people who donated to him to help with the pandemic and let a convicted killer run free.