Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said the California gubernatorial debate on Tuesday night showed that Democrats in the Golden State need to be in “opposition” to President Donald Trump “on everything.”
“I think the debate showed that California Democrats are just like Democrats all around the country, which is that they are basing their entire political worldview on Donald Trump,” York said Wednesday on Fox News’s America Reports. “When Donald Trump says X, they say not X.”
During the debate, Democrats criticized the president repeatedly, with candidates saying California needs a governor who will oppose Trump.
At one point in the debate, moderator Julie Watts highlighted that the candidates said Trump’s name 1,000 times during CBS News’s interview series.
Watts joked that she would “ban” his name if she kept hearing it throughout the debate.
After listening to the clip, York said the candidates wouldn’t have much to say if the moderator prevented those vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) from discussing Trump.
“Well, that would’ve been a fun idea to ban the name Trump from the debate, I’m not sure what they would have had to say,” York said.
York said Democrats need a plan “beyond” opposing Trump to communicate to voters in the midterm elections.
“The bigger question though, and you have a lot of Democratic strategists who are nervous about this, is whether voters will want Democrats to have a plan to do something if they are elected beyond just opposing Donald Trump,” he said.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S DEBATE TURNS CHAOTIC AS CANDIDATES CHASE BREAKOUT MOMENT
Ahead of the debate, Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer were the leading candidates in the packed race, according to a CBS News poll released on Monday.
The next gubernatorial debate is scheduled for May 5 on CNN, with the state’s nonpartisan primary set for June 2.