California Democrat slaps CNN with cease and desist after report claims Newsom faces no Dems recall

California Democrat vying to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in upcoming recall election asked his lawyers to send CNN a cease and desist letter on Tuesday after the outlet falsely reported that “no Democrats do rivaled the governor of his own party “.

Kevin Paffrath, a real estate agent also known as social media personality Meet Kevin, is one of 46 candidates vying to replace Newsom as governor of the Golden State. He is also arguably the most recognizable of the nine Democrats in the race.

But a CNN report on the state of the recall race made no mention of him on Monday. About an hour and 15 minutes after Fox News requested a comment, the article was updated to read instead: “Since no party-backed Democrat competes with the governor of his own party, the state might end up being led by a Republican ”- adding the“ party-backed qualifier.

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“What a jolt; I still don’t want to mention myself despite being one or two in the polls against Elder,” he said after CNN updated the article. “They create a false dichotomy: whether it’s Newsom or Elder. So wrong – there are other options, including me.”

He was referring to an August SurveyUSA poll which found that a very slim majority of Californians were in favor of Newsom’s recall and that Paffrath and conservative radio host Larry Elder, a Republican, led the pack with 27 % and 23%, respectively.

In an earlier statement to Fox News on Tuesday, Paffrath accused CNN of “pocket-endorsing” Newsom, which he called a “selfish liar and failed governor.”

“CNN is trying to keep voters in the dark about our campaign to try to help Governor Newsom stay in power,” he said. “Newsom lied to us, exaggerating fire prevention by 690%, and then again today we find that his administration tried to cover up his original statement.”

He also slammed Newsom for accepting donations from large companies, including Netflix, and allowing them to stay open while shutting down small businesses amid the height of restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

“A third of our California restaurants have gone bankrupt due to the lockdowns,” he said, referring to a report from state lawmakers in May.

“He misstated our surplus, lied about the end of the bullet train and finally recognizes that this is a California recall, not a Republican recall,” Paffrath said.

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The YouTube star therefore immediately disputed the report, which originally stated: “Since no Democrats compete with the governor of their own party, the state could end up being ruled by a Republican.”

His lawyers ask the media to “immediately correct the file.”

“The purpose of this letter is to ask you to stop and stop your false reporting,” Paffrath’s lawyers wrote to CNN on Monday. The point is, candidate Kevin Paffrath is a moderate Democrat at JFK with emergency action plans to finally do what Governor Newsom failed to do: end the water crisis, prevent wildfires and end the nighttime horror of homeless people dying in California. from the streets. “

“And yet your website is pushing misinformation to California voters looking for a ‘serious’ analysis of the recall election,” the letter continued. “Your editors have already been alerted to this lack of truth in your recall reports. Mr. Paffrath’s Twitter feed has previously criticized CNN for its misinformation, and your failure to correct the case would amount to slander and slander. defamation if it was based on malicious language. intent. “

On Tuesday, September 14, California voters will receive a reminder ballot containing two questions. The first will ask if Newsom should be called back or not. The second asks who should replace him.

“Californians should vote for a Democrat at JFK on Question 2,” Paffrath said. “Kevin Paffrath.”

The CNN report comes despite other mainstream media reporting Paffrath’s chances.

“29-year-old YouTube millionaire tops poll to replace Gavin Newsom as next governor of California,” read an Aug. 16 US Business Insider headline.

On the same day, CNBC reported that Paffrath “has a good chance of being the next governor of California.”

Both reports cited the SurveyUSA poll.

Los Angeles Magazine and New York Magazine also covered Paffrath’s rise.

“Democrat tops latest recall poll – and that’s not Gavin Newsom,” the LA Magazine caption read.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment, even after updating the article.

But Paffrath called even the update a “slap in the face.”

“Now they literally can’t say ‘we didn’t know’,” he said. “It’s almost more obvious now that they are censoring us.”

He called it a corrupt attempt to “Paffrath sandbag”.

And this is not the first time he has come face to face with a large liberal corporation in its quest to topple Newsom.

In May, Paffrath’s Instagram account was briefly closed after calling Newsom a “weaned baby” in his campaign ad. He said he was initially told the post violated Instagram’s harassment guidelines, but a spokesperson for the social media platform’s parent company, Facebook, later told Fox News that this was an error and the account had been restored.

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The report came weeks after a Freedom of Information request from Judicial Watch confirmed allegations that California officials were coordinating censorship efforts of social media “disinformation” through backdoor channels to Twitter, Facebook. and Google.

Republican challengers include Elder, 2018 GOP nominee, John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, reality TV star and Olympian Caitlin Jenner, State Assembly Member Kevin Kiley and Steve Chavez Lodge, the ex-cop and military veteran who is engaged to the “Real Housewives” star. Vicki Gunvalson.