California Governor Gavin Newsom told MSNBC on Monday evening that he will appoint a “black woman” to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) if she retires before completing her term. But Feinstein, 87, said she has no plans to retire soon.
Newsom said, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle:
Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a Black woman to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she does not finish her term, he said Monday.
Newsom faced pressure from African American and progressive political leaders to name a Black woman to replace Vice President Kamala Harris when she gave up her Senate seat in January. Instead, he picked California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who became the first Latino to represent the state in the Senate.
Harris’ departure left the Senate without any Black women. MSNBC host Joy Reid brought up the subject of what Newsom would do should another vacancy arise in an interview Monday.
Newsom said he had “multiple names in mind,” the Associated Press noted.
However, Feinstein told reporters Tuesday that she “absolutely” intends to finish her current term, which ends in 2025. She said that she did not believe Newsom meant to imply that he wanted her to retire early.
Newsom spoke to MSNBC as he faces a recall election, after public outrage at his coronavirus shutdowns.
Democrats have been upset with Feinstein in recent years. In 2017, left-wing activists protested against her after she suggested that she would be willing to work with President Donald Trump.
In 2020, Democrats were furious after she praised Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, and she was forced to give up her top post on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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