California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded Thursday to comments he called “offensive” made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a Wednesday radio interview.

During his press briefing, Newsom was asked about McConnell’s assertion that states dealing with budget issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic should seek bankruptcy protections instead of receiving federal aid.

“I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments needs to be thoroughly evaluated,” McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt during an interview. “There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

In his response to a question regarding McConnell’s comments, Newsom said he spoke on behalf of police officers, firefighters, nurses, teachers and other frontline workers in calling McConnell’s comments “offensive.”

“I’ll just say this, states are laboratories of democracy,” Newsom said. “Cities are laboratories of innovation. If you care about democracies and innovation, if you care about states, you care about cities, I hope and expect he’ll take back his comments.”

Some U.S. cities have previously filed for Chapter 9, Title 11 bankruptcy, which is available to cities, towns, counties and public districts to restructure their debts. California municipalities including Stockton (2012), Vallejo (2008) and Orange County (1994) have filed for bankruptcy, but the path is not currently available to states.

McConnell’s comments have received criticism from some Democrat and Republican governors alike.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called it “really one of the dumb ideas of all time,” during a press briefing while Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told Politico “If he doesn’t regret it yet, I think he will regret it,” during a Thursday interview.

McConnell’s press office has issued two releases calling federal relief for states “blue state bailouts.”

Newsom was asked about McConnell’s comments in the context of California’s status as a donor state, which is a state that pays more to the federal government in taxes than it receives in federal funding. The governor noted that recent federal tax reform that capped the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT) has led California to contribute less than it now receives in federal funding.

“We’ve long made the point that California has been a donor state,” Newsom said. “Interestingly, that’s no longer true. After the SALT tax reform, California actually is slightly below that normal position where we were contributing a little bit more. SALT set us back just slightly.”

Newsom’s response to McConnell’s comments represented a rare departure from the apolitical tone Newsom has attempted to project in press briefings during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor has consistently praised President Trump for offering federal support during the pandemic, including on Thursday when he acknowledged and thanked the Trump administration for its rapid response in delivering 90,000 swabs to California needed for specimen collection.

When asked during a press briefing last week whether he planned to endorse Democratic candidate Joe Biden for president, he did not provide a direct answer to the question.

“You’ve just reminded me of politics,” Newsom said. “Candidly, I’ve been so focused on COVID-19, I haven’t been asked.”