Republican gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner kicked off her statewide campaign tour on Thursday with a stop in Venice Beach.
In a press conference, Jenner blamed incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom—who faces a recall election Sept. 14—for the “epidemic of crime” and homelessness in California.
“You can’t just move these people into housing and expect change,” she told The Daily Mail while touring some of Venice’s tented homeless encampments. “It doesn’t work that way. Many need rehab, counseling. We need boots on the ground here.”
Yet the 71-year-old Olympian and reality television star recommended the opposite in an interview with “Inside California Politics” in July. Describing Venice Beach as “destroyed,” she advocated for moving persons experiencing homelessness in the area to “an open field out in some place.”
Jenner’s stop in Venice Beach is the first in a string of trips up and down the state. She plans to visit Orange County Thursday night before visiting the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday. She will then proceed to Northern California to visit sites ravaged by wildfire in recent weeks.
A UC Berkeley poll currently has Jenner falling in fifth place among Republican voters, polling at 3 percent behind conservative radio personality Larry Elder (18 percent), conservative activist John Cox (10 percent), former Mayor of San Diego Kevin Faulconer (10 percent) and California State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (5 percent).