Pelosi, Newsom knock GOP candidates ahead of California debate

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) knocked Republican presidential candidates Monday for their stances on the economy ahead of the party’s second debate, which is set for Wednesday in Golden State. 

“I think when you look at the next debate, you look at the contrast between the two parties at the moment — it’s as different as daylight and darkness,” Newsom said on a call with the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Newsom and Pelosi cast the upcoming event, to be held in Simi Valley, Calif., as a debate on the economy, emphasizing President Biden’s record and hitting the GOP candidates’ stances by contrast. 

“A return to MAGA-nomics would be a disaster for working families,” Pelosi said, knocking the debate participants as “extreme MAGA Republican candidates” for supporting Trump-era tax cuts she called “a tax scam that gave handouts to the rich and corporations.” 

She called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and others in the party for their stance on the tax cuts, the Inflation Reduction Act, and Social Security and Medicare. 

Those GOP hopefuls are among the candidates who appear to have qualified for the second debate. Former President Trump, the front-runner of the Republican primary field, has announced he plans to skip the stage and hold a counter-programming event in Michigan. 

Newsom knocked job loss under Trump and touted job creation under Biden, and took swipes at the GOP’s economic record overall.

“Forty-seven million of the 49 million jobs that have been created since Reagan … have been created under Democratic administrations,” Newsom said, noting that the Southern California debate will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. 

“I don’t know how they get away with their rhetoric,” he said. “Why is it the last three Republican presidents share one thing in common, and that’s recessions? Is it because of their policies and their approach?”

Newsom has emerged as an outspoken defender of the president and the Biden-Harris reelection bid. He’ll be in Simi Valley on Wednesday to help lead response efforts as the debate goes live. 

“It’s just not even an interesting debate,” Newsom quipped at one point during the DNC call, underscoring the contrast between Democrats and Republicans on the economy.

Biden, though, has been plagued by poor approval numbers on the conomy — but Pelosi shrugged off a question about the latest poll numbers. 

“In terms of the polls, last year, people said to me, ‘Oh, you’re going to lose 40 seats.’ … Based on what? Based on what? We knew differently,” Pelosi said, adding that “making the contrast” in the midterms helped Democrats to key wins. 

The second GOP presidential debate will take place Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Southern California. Hosted by Fox Business with moderators Stuart Varney and Dana Perino, as well as Univision’s Ilia Calderón, it’s set to air at 9 p.m. EDT.