‘Machete’ Star Danny Trejo Passionately Defends Gavin Newsom At Governor’s News Conference: “This Guy’s Been Trying To Save Our Lives”

“This guy’s been trying to save our lives since this shi — this virus started,” said actor and Trejo’s Tacos owner Danny Trejo at a news conference with California Governor Gavin Newsom. At the event, Newsom signed legislation that will provide a $6.2 billion tax cut to the hardest hit small businesses in the state.

Trejo admitted he didn’t know what the effort to recall Newsom was all about, but urged Californians to “Stop being silly!” That enjoinder was applicable to the reporters in attendance, as well.

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The actor wasn’t expected to speak, but a reporter asked him a question — about Lady Gaga’s dogs being found — and Trejo took the opportunity to offer a full-throated endorsement of the embattled CA governor, who’s facing a recall vote in the fall.

“People don’t understand: We’re at war with this virus,” continued Trejo. “In London, they’re wearing gas masks. And nobody was complaining.

“And that’s what they’re trying to get us to do: Wear the gas masks,” said the actor, holding up his own gas mask for emphasis. “And stay 6 feet away. I kinda like it because I don’t like people that close to me.”

Trejo is probably best known as for the titular role in Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 Machete, his handlebar mustache and his copious tattoos, but he’s been in dozens of film and TV productions over the past decades.

The off-the-cuff endorsement may actually mean something politically for Newsom. While polls show him comfortably ahead in the recall race — only 40% of Californians say they would vote to oust him — a March tally identified one of Newsom’s biggest potential hurdles: 44.5% of Latino voters plan to vote for his ouster. That’s compared to 41.4% of that electorate who will vote “No.”

About 40% of the state’s population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.

Regarding the Lady Gaga issue Trejo said, “Yeah, were looking for Lady Gaga’s…Some people say that because a we commented that they brought the dogs back, but I don’t know.”

Newsom, for his part, seemed happy for the endorsement — and for a bit of comic relief.

“Now we know what’s going to lead on the new tonight,” he said afterward.

Watch the news conference below:

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