Listen for yourself.
In comments made to California Democratic Party supporters, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher called the more than 1 million Californians who have signed the petition to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom “Trump-inspired conspiracy theorists.”
What’s more, Fletcher said Californians leading the recall effort “are linked in associate with neo-Nazi, with white supremacists, with right-wing militia groups.”
“But these same extremists, these same Trump-inspired conspiracy theorists, are now seeking to undermine our democracy in California,” he said. “There is substantial evidence that those who are leading this recall effort are linked in associate with neo-Nazi, with white supremacists, with right-wing militia groups, and we cannot stand for this here either.”
In response, my organization, the San Diego County Gun Owners, is joining in the chorus of elected officials, community leaders and organizations who are calling for the resignation of Fletcher.
We condemn his hateful, divisive rhetoric. It is beyond words to describe how we feel hearing an elected official condemn California voters who are participating in the democratic process via a recall process laid out clearly in our California Constitution.
Fletcher’s name-calling of law-abiding California voters has gone too far, and it is obvious that he intends to intimidate gun owners who are just some of the over 1 million California voters, from across the political spectrum, who are proudly participating in the Newsom recall effort.
With all that has happened politically in the last 12 months, choosing to compare honest, hard-working gun owners to Nazis demeans the Holocaust, its survivors and all of those who lost family, friends and loved ones. We are befuddled, confused, and sad that Fletcher made this horrible, calculated smear.
We repudiate his actions and are calling for his immediate resignation. San Diego County deserves representation from leaders who speak the truth and do not support or encourage sedition by their harmful, misleading and false statements.
We do not know what Fletcher intends to incite against us, but we won’t be intimidated. We won’t stop working to protect our Constitutional rights. We won’t sit silently while irresponsible elected officials fan the flames of hate with harmful rhetoric. We will continue to work within the peaceful, constitutional, political system to protect our civil rights.
For the good of the voters in San Diego County, Nathan Fletcher, step down from your office.
Michael Schwartz is executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners, a political action committee promoting Second Amendment rights.