Newsom to McCarthy: Focus on your 'murder capital' district, not impeachment

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom mocked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for pursuing an impeachment of President Joe Biden, deriding the effort as “student government.”

Newsom, speaking at POLITICO’s “Golden State of California” event Tuesday in Sacramento, savored the chance to needle his longtime foe, painting him as a puppet of former President Donald Trump and the right flank of his caucus.

“My Kevin will do what he needs to do — or what he’s told to do,” Newsom told POLITICO’s California bureau chief Chris Cadelago, repeating Trump’s purported nickname for the Republican leader.

He quickly pivoted to comparing McCarthy’s deep red Bakersfield district, calling it the “murder capital of California.”

“Two and a half times the murder rate of Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco,” Newsom said.

Pointing to the area’s large percentage of uninsured people and children living in poverty, Newsom accused McCarthy of neglecting those issues to focus instead on investigating Biden and his son, Hunter.

He further mocked McCarthy for reneging on his vow to seek a floor vote to begin the impeachment inquiries, instead of making the decision unilaterally, which the speaker did on Tuesday.

“There was emphasis on that intention just 11 days ago,” Newsom said. “Give me a break.”