California Dems react to Chavez child rape claims as Newsom is yet to adress scandal

California Democrats reacted with disgust to the shocking allegations of sexual abuse of women and girls by labor icon Cesar Chavez — while Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to address the scandal tearing through the state.

A bombshell New York Times investigation published Wednesday said that Chavez raped and sexually assaulted two girls who were as young as 12, as well as abusing other women, including his United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.

The horrifying reports come just days before an annual state holiday honoring the late union leader, Cesar Chavez Day, on March 31. It’s unclear whether the paid day off for state workers, which was proclaimed last year by Newsom’s office, would proceed as planned.

Newsom’s office said it would “provide comment once information is shared or reported,” Politico reported.

Newsom, who had a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning in Alameda, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rumors of a damaging report about Chavez on Tuesday led to a wave of cancellations of events and other celebrations in his name in Texas, California, and Arizona.

“The serious allegations involving Cesar Chavez are devastating,” Senate President Pro Tem Monique Límon and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, both Democrats, told Politico. “The Legislature will always stand with survivors, whose courage in coming forward demands our support and unwavering commitment to justice with dignity.”

Newsom was among the many political leaders in California and nationwide who revered Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers in the 1960s and was credited with improving conditions for farm laborers.

“History will judge societies and governments…not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor & the helpless,” Newsom wrote on X in 2021.

Of the some 125 schools, parks, streets, and other locations named after Chavez, roughly half are in California — where the leader, who died in 1993, achieved an almost saintlike status in progressive circles.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden lauded Chavez, with Obama appearing at a 2012 event at his national memorial in Keene, Calif., and Biden placing a bronze bust of him in the Oval Office.

“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years,” Huerta, who is 95 and remains politically active, said in a statement.

“There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement,” she added.

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