Caitlyn Jenner, who is running as a Republican for governor of California if the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom pans out, says in a new interview that she didn’t vote for former President Donald Trump — or anyone else, for that matter — in the 2020 election because it would have been pointless to vote in her state for a GOP presidential candidate.
Instead, the former Olympian and reality TV star told CNN’s Dana Bash, “I just wound up going to play golf.”
“Out here in California, it’s like, why vote for a Republican president?” Jenner said in the wide-ranging interview, which ran in part Tuesday morning. “It’s just not going to work. I mean, it’s overwhelming.”
Jenner said that the only thing in California that she was worried about and that “affects people” were the “propositions that were out there.”
“I didn’t see any propositions that I really had (on) one side or the other, and so it was Election Day and I just couldn’t get excited about it,” said Jenner. “I just wound up going to play golf and I said, ‘I’m not doing that.'”
Jenner, meanwhile, told Bash that she is “kind of the Republican side,” but she has trouble with “labels.”
“We label everybody. I don’t like labels. I’m me, OK?” Jenner said. “Just because I have conservative economic philosophy — that’s the only thing that the Republicans are kind of on that I’m on. … I don’t know. Maybe you call me a libertarian. Maybe you call me in the middle. I really don’t know because when it comes to social issues, I’m much more progressive, much more liberal. So I’m kind of a middle of the road.”
And when Bash asked Jenner why people should vote for her, even though she has a lack of government experience, she joked that voters will choose her “because I’m cute and adorable.”
But Jenner said she’s ready to take on the role of governor because of her business experience through entertainment.
“I have been in the entrepreneurial world,” she said. “People think (because) you’ve been in show business, think of you as a reality star. Certainly, I’ve done that, but entertainment is a business, and you have to run that business.”
Jenner also pointed out that she’s “sold a billion dollars worth of exercise equipment on television” and has had aviation companies.
“I’ve just always been involved in being an entrepreneur and tried to inspire my children to do the same thing, and they’ve done very well in that department,” she said.
Jenner in the past had supported Trump, but in 2018 she backed away, saying she thought his administration’s policies harmed transgender people like herself.
However, she knows she needs Trump’s base, which could net political donations toward her campaign, but she said that she does not believe the election was stolen as Trump insists.
“He is our President. I respect that,” Jenner said of President Joe Biden. “I realize there’s a lot of frustration over that election. You know what? I’m frustrated over what happened back then.”
Jenner didn’t explain why the election frustrated her, but she said she agrees that work must be done to keep “integrity” in the system.
“We are a democratic republic; we need to have integrity in our election system,” Jenner said.
If Newsom’s recall makes it to a ballot, voters would have to answer two questions; one about whether they want to recall the Democrat governor, who came under fire over his strict COVD lockdown requirements. The other question would consist of several potential candidates to replace Newsom, including Jenner.
Jenner also insisted that her famous Jenner-Kardashian family would not play a role in her candidacy and that her views on the death penalty differ from those held by stepdaughter Kim Kardashian, a vocal opponent.
“My family has certainly been out in the media and they’ve taken their shots and they don’t need to take any more,” Jenner said. “I said, ‘I am not going to ask you for one tweet. I’m not going to ask you for one thing. You guys go live your life. This is my deal.'”
