CA Gov. Newsom Calls Trump "Proactive" After Joy Behar Asks If He Has To "Kiss The Ring"

California Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn't take the bait from 'The View' co-host Joy Behar.

JOY BEHAR, THE VIEW: Yes, governor. You know it's no secret that you have had a combative relationship with Trump in the past, but lately you have been praising him for the help he's giving or of course, you have to because look how he treats governors who don't, you know, kiss his ring. The governor of Washington, the governor of Michigan, he said they were not appreciative and told Mike Pence don't call them back. You know, do you feel like you have to feed this guy's ego to get the respirators and to get the PPEs? Is that what's going on?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Let me just acknowledge the frame of your question. We're involved in over 68 lawsuits with the Trump administration, and so there's no question we have had our differences of opinion on many issues but I just want to remind you that you and many others that maybe are not aware of this. We have been at this since late January. California got a head start in many respects where no one was really paying much attention. We started working with the administration directly to get these repatriated flights from mainland China into the state of California. Many states turned their back on those flights and those repatriation missions. California embraced them. We also had that "Grand Princess," that large cruise ship where we worked very collaboratively with the federal government developed strong relationships of trust with emergency planning and how we can bring those passengers back into our diverse communities and all across the rest of the country. As a consequence of that, our relationship began earlier than most, and so from that perspective, all I can say is from my perspective, the relationship has been strong and I'm not doing it to kiss the ring. I'm not doing it in a way, you know -- I'm just being forthright with the president. He returns calls. He reaches out. He's been proactive. We got that "Mercy" ship down here in Los Angeles. That was directly because he sent it down here. 2,000 medical units came to the state of California, these fms, these field medical stations, and that's been very, very helpful and to the extent we're going to need more, and I'll let you know in a few weeks if that relationship continues.