Caitlyn Jenner’s Hannity special + Appeal for native women + ‘Black mama bail out’
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
JENNER GOES ON HANNITY
In her first televised interview since announcing her campaign for California governor, reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner joined Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday night for an hour-long, town hall-style interview where she railed against Democratic policies on illegal immigration, COVID-19 lockdowns, law enforcement, and wildfire management.
Jenner, who launched her campaign in late April, said she’s running for “solutions,” and voiced criticisms of Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats echoed by conservatives around the country.
On the pandemic front, Jenner said she admired the work of states like Florida, and said Newsom has been “absolutely horrible.” Asked if she would open the state of California tomorrow, Jenner said “absolutely.”
“(Newsom used the pandemic) as a tool to control people and that should not happen. He’s destroyed businesses, thousands of businesses destroyed. He should have done a better job,” she said.
She also voiced support for ICE and police officers. She would crack down hard on the civil unrest seen in cities across the nation last year in light of police shootings.
Jenner, who is a transgender woman, defended her earlier statements about keeping transgender girls out of girls sports. It’s an issue of fairness, Jenner said.
Toward the end of the interview, Jenner choked up as she described her decision to come out as transgender in 2015.
“I sat down with my pastor, and I thought, ‘is there a reason for this? Am I doing the right thing?’ After a long thought, I said, ‘you know what? At this point in my life, my kids are raised, everybody’s fine. Maybe it’s time I take care of myself.”
Newsom’s team, meanwhile, sent out fundraising emails on Wednesday ahead of the interview, asking supporters to donate in response to Jenner’s appearance, and once again trying to cast the recall as a ploy by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
“A far-right recall attempt paid for by Trump’s donors, run by Trump’s campaign manager, going on Trump’s favorite television station for an event with Trump’s favorite host,” Newsom’s campaign said in an email.
BONUS: Shortly after Jenner’s interview with Hannity ended, recall proponents received word that the petition had reached more than 1.7 million valid signatures. According to the Secretary of State’s office, this is the final count, but the number of signatures could decrease if anyone withdraws their name from the petition by June 8. Regardless of technicalities, both Newsom supporters and opponents expect an election to take place this fall.
RESOLUTION TO HONOR MISSING, MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN
Assemblyman James Ramos, D-Highland, the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs, will call on the Legislature to recognize May 2021 as California’s missing and murdered indigenous women and girls awareness month.
“The numbers of murdered missing indigenous women and girls tell us that Native women face a pandemic of violence,” Ramos said in a statement. “The crimes against them go unresolved for a number of reasons, from confusion over law enforcement jurisdiction to misclassification of ethnic identity to lack of data and law enforcement collaboration. The bottom line is that victims and their families do not get justice.”
Ramos is the first California Native American to be elected to the State Legislature in its 170-year history. He will lead Assembly members in Native American song and prayer before the start of Thursday’s floor session in order to commemorate Native American women who ave been victims of violence.
The opening prayer and song will begin at 9 a.m., while presentation of HR 40, to commemorate the month of May, will begin at approximately 9:30 a.m.
‘BLACK MAMA BAIL OUT’ DAY OF ACTION PLANNED
This Friday, a group dedicated to ending mass incarceration will hold an event where they plan to bail out Black mothers from a Los Angeles jail.
Essie Justice Group will also hold a virtual rally to call out “the ongoing crisis of pretrial incarceration in California and showing the reality of Black folks still paying for one anothers’ freedom,” according to a statement released by the group.
The rally will feature former state senator and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Los Angeles Public Defender Ricardo Garcia, actor Rashida Jones, as well as Gina Clayton-Johnson of Essie Justice Group and Eunisses Hernandez of La Defensa.
“The day of action comes after a memo released by retired Judge J. Richard Couzens instructed judges in California on how they can circumvent the Humphrey ruling and continue to use bail to keep people detained pretrial. The memo from Judge Couzens exemplifies Essie’s assertion that when judges are given discretion, they use it to deprive people of their right to liberty and, most often, are keeping legally innocent Black and Brown people behind bars,” the group said in a statement.
Essie Justice Group is calling on the Judicial Council of California to issue guidance for judges to follow the California Supreme Court ruling on setting bail, and also calling on the council to reprimand Couzens.
You can watch the rally beginning at 10:30 a.m. Friday, at Blavity’s Facebook page.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This email is a reminder that I’m overdue to go ‘barechested in a leather vest and sampling BDSM paraphernalia’ at Folsom Street Fair. Thankfully the fair is coming back this fall, so I’ll have my opportunity soon!”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, responding to criticism from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
Between Jan. 1 and April 28, California public health officials recorded 3,084 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 in people who were fully vaccinated. That’s out of 12.9 million people who were fully vaccinated, via Ken Carlson.
A California appeals court affirmed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s use of emergency powers on Wednesday, shooting down a challenge by Republican lawmakers who said the Democrat acted illegally when he issued an executive order laying out procedures for a mail-in election, via Lara Korte.
The managers of California’s electricity system can’t promise they’ll be able to keep the lights on this summer, via Dale Kasler.