First, there was Bill Clinton and Arsenio Hall. Then, there was Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay Leno. Now, there’s Eric Swalwell and Jimmy Kimmel.
Using the national platform of late-night TV that has created iconic moments for aspiring politicians before him, the Dublin-raised, Castro Valley-based U.S. representative for California’s 14th congressional district announced on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night that he is entering the race to be California’s next governor.
Swalwell garnered national attention as an impeachment manager of Donald Trump in the president’s first term, but Thursday night, he pitched himself as the chief Democratic adversary of the commander-in-chief.
“I love California. It’s the greatest country in the world… that’s why it pisses me off to see Californians running in the fields where they work from ICE agents or troops in our streets,” Swalwell told Kimmel. “Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector — someone who will bring prices down and lift wages up.”
Kimmel boasts the largest audience of TV’s late-night hosts with 1.8 million viewers nightly. He got a ratings bump after being suspended from prime time in July by ABC and its parent company Disney following comments the host made about the killing of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk; his removal from the airwaves turned into a national referendum on the federal government’s censorship power.
Swalwell’s announcement echoed iconic moments where candidacies and television collided, like Bill Clinton’s 1992 appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show” where he wore sunglasses and played the sax — and famously scored cool points with young voters in his successful presidential — and, even more to the point, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s launch of his campaign for governor of California on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno in 2003.
“I came here tonight, Jimmy, to say that I’m running for governor of California,” Swalwell said.
Swalwell seeks to set himself apart from an increasingly crowded governor’s race of more than 10 candidates — including Katie Porter, a former congresswoman who represented Southern California’s 47th District; Xavier Becerra, an attorney and former U.S. secretary of health and human services; and Tom Steyer, a billionaire and former presidential candidate.
“Appearing on a late-night talk show is a much friendlier and more welcoming environment,” said Dan Schnur, a professor of political communications at the University of California, Berkeley. “Especially a Californian, who was attacked by Donald Trump earlier this year… for Swalwell, tapping into that same anti-Trump sentiment makes good strategic sense.”