Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s meeting with Xi Jinping on Friday, saying he would have “taken a different tone” while on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Newsom met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Communist Party officials on Wednesday where he discussed the “climate crisis” and California’s role as a partner to Beijing. Newsom also spoke about the fentanyl crisis.
“Gavin Newsom, governor of California, the first governor in four years, Ro, to head over there. Boy, those guys looked — they looked like they really liked each other,” co-host Joe Kernen said. “I don’t know what exactly they were talking about, but, I mean, we know about China and the relationship that Xi has with Putin. Were there political overtones to why Gavin Newsom was over there glad-handing with President Xi, Ro? And then I’ll ask Mike Gallagher, does that look good to anyone, Ro?” (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Test Drives EV Hybrid Made By Chinese Company That He Once Gave A Massive No-Bid Contract)
“I have no problem with him going there. I would have taken a different tone,” Khanna said. “Let me just say first that the most substantive bipartisan work taking place anywhere in Congress is on the China Select Committee, and that has a lot to do with Mike Gallagher’s leadership.”
“But here was my challenge: I mean, go meet with Xi Jinping, but the first three things should be, what is happening with the Uighurs and the human rights crisis? What is happening with our trade deficit? Why do you have a trade deficit not just with the United States, a trade surplus, but with India, Japan, South Korea? That’s got to stop. We want our jobs back. What are you doing in terms of ratcheting up the tension on Taiwan? And let’s be very clear, you’re not going to have any support and you will have huge deterrence and opposition if you make any move on Taiwan. Those needed to be the conversations.”
Newsom also met with Chinese officials to urge them to move the communist nation away from fossil fuels and meet agreed-upon goals of carbon neutrality. Chinese-state media praised Newsom’s visit as “sincere and warm.”