Q&A: Former Gov. Jerry Brown weighs in on Kamala Harris’ loss, top issues facing California

At 86, former Gov. Jerry Brown’s brutal candor hasn’t diminished a speck.

“There are some people who are dense,” he quipped during a recent sit-down with Public Policy Institute of California head Tani Cantil-Sakauye. “They don’t know a knife from a fork … Even a lot of people who are elected can’t figure out why they got elected.”

Unlike many in California’s anti-Trump “resistance,” Brown didn’t appear too stressed about the state of American democracy. He noted governmental struggles have recently become a “worldwide phenomenon,” including in South Korea, Germany and France.

He also said democracy has been evolving since its inception in ancient Greece, when “half the population couldn’t vote” because they were slaves or women.

“Democracy has given us Trump,” Brown said. “(Voters) know this guy is vulgar, they know he tells lies and they thought that was better than the alternative.”

He did criticize the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that classified political spending as speech and a certain billionaire who spent piles of cash to elect Trump.

“(Elon) Musk was just talking with his $250 million but he was talking a lot louder than anybody else. So thank you Supreme Court and Citizens United.”

Brown also repeated a maxim shared by other alumni of California’s highest elected office.

“Governors don’t want to be commented upon” by their predecessors, he said, noting that former Govs. Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, never offered him unsolicited or public feedback. “I’m going to follow that proud tradition and not give Governor Newsom any advice whatsoever.”

Brown sat down with The Bee following the PPIC event to further discuss the election and the way forward for his state and party.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Were you surprised that Donald Trump was reelected?

I wasn’t surprised because I didn’t know what to expect. Some of the polling suggested that Kamala would win, but other polling made it clear that Trump was slightly more popular, and that’s exactly what happened.

Is there anything you think that Kamala Harris or the Democratic Party could have done differently in this past election?

I don’t think so. I think Biden’s unpopularity, for a variety of reasons, was too strong and Kamala couldn’t overcome that.

There’s always a debate in California about the slow counting and certification of election results. What do you think about this?

I think it’s unconscionable.

You think it is too slow?

It obviously is too slow, slower than it used to be. It ought to be counted as fast as it was 50 years ago. (Editor’s Note: 50 years ago, Brown was serving as California’s 23rd Secretary of State.) There are mechanical solutions, changing the procedures, whatever, but that breeds distrust.

A lot has been made about working class voters and Latino voters swinging toward Trump. What do Democrats need to do to win back these voters or keep them from moving to the right?

They need to get a little more mainstream and emphasize more traditional Democratic issues: wages, health care and education. There’s so many different goals and ideas that the Democratic party champions. I think they have to narrow their agenda to the most important and the ideas that reach the most people.

Low-income people are progressively being disadvantaged. Democrats have to respond to that, even though it’s not going to be very easy because a lot of it derives from free trade, massive foreign imports and technology – automation and increasingly AI.

Should leaders in California who are looking to push back against the incoming Trump administration do anything different this time than the first time around?

It’s just a different time. There will be different lawsuits and different initiatives by Trump. California should defend those things that are very important to the state.

Where do you think the incoming administration poses the biggest threat to California?

It’s hard to say but I definitely think on climate, there will be an effort to dismantle Biden climate laws and regulations, which are very important. I think if that happens, the environmental movement will get stronger and at the next congressional election, the Democrats will win. So Trump will not succeed. He’ll slow climate action, but he’s not gonna stop it.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing California today?

I don’t think there’s one issue. I think there’s lots of things. Education, the homeless people living on sidewalks, the dope addiction, all those things are serious.

This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 3:35 PM.