California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says he can't remember why he called on President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE to resign last year, adding that he is focused on working with the federal government for the good of his state.

Newsom told The New York Times on Monday that he doesn't remember the reason behind his January 2018 call for the president's resignation, adding that he made the comments during his campaign for governor. Newsom previously served as the state's lieutenant governor before winning the 2018 governor's race.

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“That was during a campaign,” Newsom told the Times. “It’s just so indicative of this moment, I couldn’t even tell you [what it was about]. It was 4,623 tweets ago.”

Newsom added that his state's relationship with the federal government was more important than his political beliefs.

“I’m pursuing [a relationship with Trump] because it’s just it’s too damn important,” he told the Times. “And the risks are too great to bear.”

A review of Newsom's comments from January of 2018 reveal that the governor's opposition to the president at the time centered around Trump's use of the world "sh-thole" to describe several African countries as well as Haiti and El Salvador during a discussion on immigration.

At the time, Trump denied eyewitness accounts from Democratic senators who accused him of making the comments during a bipartisan meeting at the White House. Newsom, along with other Democrats, called on the president to step down.

"You’re a joke and a racist, President Donald J. Trump," Newsom wrote on Facebook at the time. "Resign."

Trump denied making the derogatory comments at the time, claiming that he never said “anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."

Newsom and Trump have most recently clashed over California's decision to scale back a federally-funded high-speed rail program linking San Francisco and Los Angeles, for which the Trump administration has sought a return of federal funds.