California GOP Shares Thoughts On President Trump At State Convention
Members of the California GOP gathered over the weekend for the annual state party convention, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Naturally, convention goers were asked of their opinions on the performance of President Trump, who was sworn in as the 45th president a little more than one month ago. Many expressed their support and praised the actions of the President during his early weeks in office.
According to the San Francisco Gate, many convention-goers are pleased with the fact that President Trump has shown a commitment to keeping his promises. President Trump’s dedication to keeping campaign promises was also a major theme at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week.
According to Western Journalism, President Trump was the first president to speak at CPAC during the first year of his presidency since President Ronald Reagan. Trump did not attend the event last year when he was still a candidate for president.
In deep blue California, Trump electrifies GOP https://t.co/LFbruLSPgo pic.twitter.com/a4L3rGTLmR
— POLITICO (@politico) February 26, 2017
Per the San Francisco Gate, convention goers were also impressed with President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court. Many conservatives are overjoyed with the nomination of Gorsuch, as he is believed to be similar in philosophy to the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia passed away unexpectedly in February of 2016.
The confirmation hearing for Judge Gorsuch is scheduled to begin on March 20, according to CBS News. Currently, a Supreme Court nominee needs 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate. The Republicans currently have a slight majority of 52 seats, meaning they would need to sway some votes from Democrats and/or Independents. However, there have been whispers of a rule change, which is also known as the “nuclear option,” that could allow Gorsuch to be confirmed with a simple majority of 51 votes.
According to the San Francisco Gate, some California Republicans admitted to still having concerns, such as President Trump’s “late night tweeting” and what the administration’s policies on illegal immigration might mean for “California’s agriculture industry.” Per the San Francisco Gate, some convention goers also privately admitted that President Trump “wasn’t their first choice.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, others still question “his allegiance to conservative ideals.” However, voices of support from GOP delegates and “Trump loyalists” were more prevalent. Jim Brulte, California GOP Chairman, was also among those who have been impressed by the President, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Among notable voices at the convention was conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. Hewitt was not the biggest supporter of President Trump during the campaign and actually called on him to drop out of the race a month before the election. He later announced in early November that he was likely to vote for President Trump, according to Politico.
For the benefit of the country, the party and his family, and for his own good, @realDonaldTrump should withdraw. More and worse oppo coming
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) October 8, 2016
According to the San Francisco Gate, during his speech, Hewitt praised President Trump as a “tremendously effective communicator” and urged convention goers to not focus on worries that he’s “not particularly conservative.”
As the San Francisco Gate points out, the opening of the convention also coincided with remarks make by Republican Congressman and Trump supporter Darrell Issa. According to NBC News, Issa, who also spoke at the convention, appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday and voiced support for the idea of having a “special prosecutor” to take a look at “alleged Russian interference in the election.”
How are California GOP delegates feeling about Trump’s first weeks in office? https://t.co/U3ua9muV2y pic.twitter.com/1r46qKWZhc
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) February 26, 2017
Per the San Francisco Gate, Issa narrowly won reelection last November. The San Francisco Gate also describes how Issa, who will be up for reelection again in 2018, finds himself in a unique position as a Republican in California.
“They want to embrace him because he’s a Republican president — but not hug him too tight given how unpopular he is with most of the state’s voters.”
California is obviously known as a deep blue, liberal state. The last Republican to carry the state in a general election was President George H.W. Bush in 1988. According to the San Francisco Gate, only “26 percent” of California’s voters are registered on the GOP side.
According to the Mercury News, Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton won the state by a “2-to-1” margin in the 2016 election. Clinton won the popular vote over President Trump, and many have pointed to the state of California as one of the reasons why.
[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
