California desperately needs a change from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., told Newsmax, Thursday.
Speaking on "National Report," Kim pushed back against speculation about potential candidates and made it clear she was not endorsing herself or anyone else at this stage.
"I'm not making a prediction right now," Kim said. "However, anyone is better than Gavin Newsom."
Kim said her criticism of Newsom is rooted in what she described as systemic failures in California government, particularly when it comes to fraud, waste, and mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
California, she said, has earned an unfortunate reputation.
"We talked about the fraud, and California is unfortunately known as the fraud capital of the world," Kim said. "That is not something to be proud of."
Kim pointed specifically to findings from the California State Auditor's Office, which reported as much as $32 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefit payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even now, Kim said, the problems remain unresolved.
"Years later, state auditors still found that there are billions of dollars missing," she said. "This is a travesty."
Kim said the failures at the state's Employment Development Department highlight broader leadership problems that continue to hurt Californians.
"This is at the Employment Development Department," she said. "We have to address the problems we have in the state."
Kim, who immigrated to the United States and built her life in California, said the situation is especially painful given the state's history and promise.
"A lot of people came to California to live the American dream, as I did," she said.
She added that she wants to help restore that vision by focusing on accountability and practical governance.
"I would love to continue to represent the state of California and bring commonsense solutions to all the fraud that is happening," she said, adding that taxpayers deserve better oversight and responsible leadership.
Kim emphasized that addressing waste and fraud is not a partisan issue but a basic obligation of government.
"For all the waste and fraud that we're seeing in the state of California," said Kim, "we have to do better."
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