The Issue Is: John Cox, Carla Marinucci, Areva Martin and Joel Pollak

This week, The Issue Is celebrates its third anniversary.

With that milestone in mind, Elex Michaelson is joined by a handful of returning guests.

On May 11, 2018, businessman John Cox was in the running to become California’s next Governor, although that November he would ultimately lose to Gavin Newsom. Three years later, Cox is looking to unseat Newsom in a looming recall election. He joins Michaelson to make his pitch to voters and to discuss his recent campaign stop with a 1,000-lb Kodiak bear.

Following Cox, Michaelson is joined by this week’s all-star panel, frequent guest Carla Marinucci of Politico, as well as Areva Martin and Joel Pollak, who both appeared on the first episode of The Issue Is on May 4, 2018. Among other topics, the panel reacts to John Cox’s ursine campaign companion, Caitlyn Jenner’s recent interview with Sean Hannity, and President Trump’s ongoing battle with Big Tech.

—————

THE ISSUE: THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

BACKGROUND: This week, Gubernatorial candidate John Cox began his "Meet the Beast" bus tour in Sacramento. The tour’s name comes from Cox’s campaign theme of "Beauty" vs. "The Beast," in which Cox portrays Newsom as the beauty, and himself as the one who will bring about the difficult and "beastly" changes he says the state is in desperate need of. By the candidate’s side in Sacramento? A 1,000-lb. Kodiak bear named Tag, who, while wandering around untethered, stole quite a few headlines form the wannabe Governor.

COX’S CENTRAL TAKE: "It's a symbol of the beastly changes we're going to need to make in the state… the quality of life in this state continues to go down, you know, with the tax burden, the lack of water, the lack of electricity, the schools, our businesses shut down, the homelessness epidemic, all of these problems. So the bear is there as a symbol. I think it's a wonderful animal, by the way, it’s well taken care of it…. It’s also a symbol of the fact that the voters are starting to wake up from their hibernation. You know, they keep electing these career politicians and then they wonder why quality of life doesn't benefit… They’ve really had it hit home to them that who they elect makes a difference in their quality of life. It means the difference about whether they’re getting a job or not. It means a difference about whether they're going to be able to save money and not pay taxes at the high rate they are, but they're going to have money for their kids' education. It makes a difference that their kids are even in school, learning in front of a teacher…"

Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

—————

THE ISSUE: THE GROWING FIELD OF GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFULS

BACKGROUND: In 2003, some 135 candidates faced off in the effort to unseat California’s then-Governor Gray Davis. As the current recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom qualifies for a vote later this year, the potential tidal wave of candidates is just beginning to form, with Cox joined by former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and Caitlyn Jenner, the athlete, reality TV star, and activist, who this week sat down for a nationally-televised sit-down with Sean Hannity.

COX’S CENTRAL TAKE: "This is going to be me against the Pretty Boy, the Beast, against the Pretty Boy… Listen, we’ve had career politicians like Mr. Faulconer, we've had celebrities like Miss Jenner. They haven't worked. They haven't gotten the job done. There's dozens of states, by the way, Elex, including blue states like Maryland and Massachusetts that have elected business guys and they're popular. And why are they popular? Because they focus on fixing the problems and not politics. I'm not going to get involved in the political battles, the partisan fights, people are sick of that, they want somebody who's going to say, here, here's how we get from point A to point B, what's the fastest way to improve education, electricity, water, homelessness, housing, fire prevention? How can we best fix these issues? Let's elect that guy."

—————

THE ISSUE: PRESIDENT TRUMP VS. FACEBOOK

BACKGROUND: In the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others imposed bans on the accounts of President Trump. This week, Facebook’s independent Oversight Board decided to uphold the ban but ordered that Facebook review the suspension within the next six months, giving the former President’s supporters hope that he may one day have some of his accounts reinstated.

POLLAK’S CENTRAL TAKE: "It's ridiculous, and the problem that Facebook and Twitter and other social media companies are running into is they're starting to behave like governments. They control so much of the public sphere, they really ought to allow people to express themselves. But they are so clearly on one side of the political divide and using their immense power to censor alternative points of view, that this is really starting to get people upset…. This is not how we want our public discourse to happen. And there's going to have to be some kind of intervention. One thing you're hearing from Trump supporters this week, interestingly, is a sense of regret that Trump didn't do more to rein in the social media giants when he had the chance. So I think what you're going to see going forward is that future Republican candidates will be asked by Republican primary voters what they plan to do about Facebook, Twitter and the others…"

MARTIN’S CENTRAL TAKE: "Well, you have a First Amendment right, no doubt about that, but you don't have a First Amendment right to be on Facebook that's not in the Constitution. So all this talk about somehow Donald Trump being denied his First Amendment rights is just a big distraction. Obviously, he has so many other opportunities to get his message out, to speak freely, he’s on Fox News regularly, he’s on other media outlets, so I think this is a lot to do about nothing. He violated the community standards set by Facebook, and he's no better than anyone else. If you violate the standards, you get penalized…. So I say this was a great decision by this board and we just should move on and let him go on FOX News, go wherever he chooses, and he can still exercise his First Amendment right, but he just can't do it on Facebook…"

—————

The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson is California's only statewide political show. For showtimes and more information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com