NOT MINCING WORDS: Former Gov. Jerry Brown was his usual candid, no-holds-barred self today during a Public Policy Institute of California chat in Sacramento. “There are some people who are dense,” he said, when discussing why it’s important for leaders to know their electorate. “They don’t know a knife from a fork. They don’t know they don’t know a knife from a fork, but they kind of blur things. And even a lot of people who get elected can’t figure out why they got elected.” Brown — who served a collective 16 years as California governor during both the 1970s and 2010s — is still very much engaged in state politics and policy. Although now, at 86, he tends to squint into stage lights and needs some questions repeated for him. The former governor wouldn’t say how he voted on Proposition 36 in November, although he didn’t seem to disagree with its premise entirely. He declined to give advice to Gov. Gavin Newsom on a bill allowing undocumented students to work on campus. And he emphasized luck as a key factor in his and others’ political success. Here are a few of our favorite moments from his chat with PPIC president and former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. On distrust of institutions… When asked about the public’s lack of trust in government and other institutions, Brown said he thinks it’s been decreasing since Watergate, and he doesn’t know if people will feel differently any time soon. But it’s not just a United States problem. “This is a worldwide phenomenon,” Brown said. “I think it’s a function of inflation, uncertainty about employment, vast cultural changes and general anxiety of not seeing a world that was familiar. And it gives people great pause. And they don’t see the politics that’s going to make enough of a difference. Things were more coherent in years past. Will it come back? It might, or it may continue. It’s hard to say.” On how democracy produced Donald Trump’s recent victory… When asked what gives him hope about the future of democracy, Brown went on a riff about Trump, Elon Musk and the 2010 Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision that opened the door to almost unlimited election spending from outside groups. “Democracy has given us Trump,” Brown said. “That is the choice. Well, you know this guy is vulgar, you know he tells lies, and they thought that was better than the alternative.” “And we have one guy, Elon Musk, who made a $250 million donation, which the Supreme Court has said is just a form of speech,” Brown continued. “Musk was just talking with his $250 million, but he was talking a lot louder than everybody else. So thank you, Supreme Court and the Citizens United.” On Prop 36 and criminal justice reform… Brown called Prop 36 a “mixed bag” and declined to take an overall position on it. He said he didn’t support Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that reduced penalties for some theft and drug crimes, which voters approved while Brown was in office. “Many people in my office felt like 47 went too far,” he said. However, he emphasized that theft was still a crime, even after Prop 47 took effect. Prosecutors just weren’t taking on lower-level offenses, he said. “The theory of 36 is, ‘We’re going to have a hammer here, and if you don’t want to be hit over the head, you’d better go into a drug program,’” Brown said. “There is truth to that.” Brown said he didn’t approve of all the changes Prop 36 made, but he approves of having a “hammer and a hand” approach. “It’s not just a hand to lift somebody up, you need a hammer to hit them over the head,” Brown said. “And we’ve taken away the hammer. So we brought back a little bit of the hammer and hopefully we can still extend the hand, because a lot of people don’t have what they need to overcome the terrible situation they’re in.” On his favorite memory of living in the governor’s mansion in Sacramento… Brown had the unique experience of spending time in the Victorian mansion in downtown Sacramento twice — once when his father, Pat Brown, was governor during the 1950s and 1960s, and then again from 2015 to 2019, after an extensive renovation effort. “My fondest memory is living there a second time,” he quipped. “I think it was Thomas Wolfe who said, ‘You can’t go home again.’ But I went back to the mansion.” IT’S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com. | 
