The Democratic governor鈥檚 high-profile push back was his most forceful yet against the effort to remove him from office. It took place the same week organizers announced they had gathered to qualify the recall for the ballot. Wednesday was the deadline to sign recall petitions, which must be verified by county election officials.
Newsom acknowledged the campaign has likely secured the 1.5 million valid signatures needed to hold a recall election later this year.
Newsom鈥檚 attacks over the airwaves were this week by the governor and his Democratic allies in Congress and across the state to defend him and paint the leaders of the recall as extreme.
鈥淭he chief proponent of this, and forgive me this is just objective truth, the chief proponent of this recall effort supports putting microchips into migrants, into immigrants,鈥� Newsom claimed on ABC鈥檚 on Tuesday.
The governor followed that provocative claim with this:
鈥淭he other proponents, the top 10 proponents, the people that are behind this are members of the Three Percenters, the right wing militia group; the Proud Boys [who] supported the insurrection, [who] are folks who quite literally, enthusiastically support QAnon conspiracies. And so that鈥檚 the origin.鈥�
Newsom made similar allegations on and .
Many recall supporters this week. They said the campaign was fueled not by extremists, but by Californians fed up with the governor's strict stay-at-home orders, which they blame for crippling business. Many are also frustrated that Newsom waited so long to push for students to return to schools in-person.
We wanted to know, did the governor get his facts right?
Did The Lead Recall Proponent Call For 鈥楳icrochipping Migrants鈥�?
There鈥檚 truth to this first provocative claim.
Orrin Heatlie, a retired Yolo County sheriff鈥檚 deputy, is the lead organizer of the recall campaign, according to its .
In June 2019, he posted on Facebook: 鈥淢icrochip all illegal immigrants. It works! Just ask Animal control! Process photograph, identify, and implant.鈥�
Heatlie his post was 鈥渉yperbole鈥� and that his Facebook account was deleted. Dan Newman, the governor鈥檚 political campaign strategist, provided a screenshot of that post.
Randy Economy, senior advisor to the recall effort, said the campaign denounces 鈥渁ll types of violence and all types of extremism.鈥�
Economy said the campaign doesn鈥檛 do background checks on supporters, adding that any connections organizers have to militia groups or to anti-immigrant comments are not representative of the overall recall effort.
鈥淭he governor is trying to intimidate people and digging into their background to destroy their character,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 trying to say we are all evil doers and bad people and crooks and criminals. That鈥檚 just what he does.鈥�
Asked about Heatlie鈥檚 Facebook post, Economy said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he was very serious about that.鈥�
Are The Recall Leaders Connected To Right Wing Militias?
There鈥檚 also evidence to support this claim.
In January, the Los Angeles Times published an . The paper identified Aaron Bate, an El Dorado County recall organizer, as a Three Percenter.
Three Percenters are 鈥渁nti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement,鈥� and have 鈥渁 track record of criminal activity ranging from weapons violations to terrorist plots and attacks,鈥� according to the Anti-Defamation League .
Bate disputed that characterization of the group, telling the Times it is not a militia or far-right.
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, has described the Three Percenters as 鈥渁n anti-government paramilitary group that promotes the idea that violence is legitimate to combat gun control laws.鈥�
He said Newsom鈥檚 statements could be viewed as 鈥渁n overstatement, although there are certainly extremists, among the larger group of supporters of the recall.鈥�
Nathan Click, also a campaign strategist for Newsom, pointed to what he described as another tie between recall leaders and the Three Percenters. He said the group鈥檚 praised work by Dan Seoane, who is of the recall campaign鈥檚 press releases.
Economy described Seoane as a recall volunteer.
Do Recall Leaders Support QAnon Conspiracy Theories?
Earlier this year, the Facebook pages of the recall campaign repeated some QAnon conspiracy theories such as the baseless allegation that the presidential election was rigged, according to the Times investigation.
鈥淭hose pages have also likened the daily disruptions of COVID-19 to the Holocaust and the governor to Hitler, framing their struggles as if they were on par with the massacre of 6 million Jews,鈥� the article continued.
In late January, the recall campaign鈥檚 Instagram account that Facebook attempted to 鈥渟hut down鈥� the effort to remove Newsom when it stopped accepting advertisements for the recall. In reality, the social media company had stopped running political ads regardless of party affiliation last fall and did not single out the recall effort.
Kim Nalder, a Sacramento State professor who studies political psychology and disinformation, said the governor鈥檚 descriptions of the recall organizers as connected to militias and QAnon are accurate, to a point.
鈥淚 think it is pretty legitimate to tie the initial [recall[ effort to those groups,鈥� Nalder said. 鈥淚 think it becomes less persuasive when you get to the current movement, which has expanded far beyond those groups.鈥�
Nalder said she鈥檚 examined images from the recall rallies and signature gathering events.
鈥淵ou do see people wearing the 1776 gear, which is associated with the Three Percenters, the Betsy Ross flag, which is also associated with the Three Percenters,鈥� she added. 鈥淎nd Q[Anon] content, Q flags, as well.鈥�
While there鈥檚 evidence to support Newsom鈥檚 statements, some outlandish claims by Democrats about the recall have backfired on the party. In January, California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks described the effort as 鈥渢he California coup.鈥�
A coup is the violent overthrow of a government. A recall is nothing like that. It鈥檚 a legal process that asks voters to decide whether to remove an elected official at the ballot box. We rated Hicks鈥� statement .
Wesley Hussey, a Sacramento State political science professor who is tracking the recall, said he wasn鈥檛 aware of direct ties between the recall leaders and militias.
He expects the governor will, however, take whatever connections exist, no matter how large or small, and use them to his advantage.
鈥淭he governor鈥檚 going to try to tie the recall effort to the extreme right. It鈥檚 smart politically,鈥� Hussey said. 鈥淭hese groups are incredibly scary and dangerous.鈥�
Source List
Gov. Gavin Newsom, interview on ABC鈥檚 , March 16, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom, interview on MSNBC鈥檚 , March 15, 2021.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, interview on CNN鈥檚 , March 16, 2021.
Randy Economy, senior advisor Newsom Recall campaign, phone interview March 17, 2021
Nathan Click and Dan Newman, Newsom campaign strategists, email interviews, March 16, 2021
Kim Nalder, political science professor, Sacramento State University, video interview, March 16, 2021.
Wesley Hussey, political science professor, Sacramento State University, video interview, March 16, 2021.
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, Cal State San Bernardino, email interview, March 16, 2021.
Orrin Heatlie, screenshot of Facebook post, June 2019.
Three Percenters,
Los Angeles Times, , Jan. 23, 2021
Sacramento Bee, , March 16, 2021
PolitiFact California, , Feb. 2, 2021
PolitiFact California, , Jan. 13, 2021
Newsweek, , Jan. 28, 2021
Politico, , Nov. 23, 2021
Politico, , Jan. 13, 2021
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