California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Donald Trump of “taking a wrecking ball” to democracy and urged Americans to “stand up” against him in a new video that shows the Democrat fashioning himself as the leader of a nationwide resistance to the president.
“This is about all of us, this is about you,” Newsom said in the video released June 10. “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”
Newsom, widely viewed as a 2028 candidate for president, has clashed with Trump over the president’s decision to order California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines onto the streets of Los Angeles after violent protests against immigration enforcement efforts. Trump federalized the Guard over Newsom’s objection, prompting California to file a lawsuit.
Trump insisted the move was needed to maintain order.
“If we didn’t get involved, right now Los Angeles would be burning,” Trump said June 10 in the Oval Office.
Newsom said the protests were “winding down” and that the president’s action caused things to escalate.
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president enflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our national guard at risk,” Newsom said in the video.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung ridiculed Newsom’s video, writing on X the governor “must’ve hired Kamala and Biden’s loser campaign team.”
Trump and Newsom have a long relationship that often has been acrimonious, but also friendly at times. Now it is moving to a new level of public confrontation.
Newsom is portraying the fight in stark terms, urging people to rally to his side at a time when many Democrats are looking for a figure to take on Trump, whose aggressive second term policy blitz is testing the limits of presidential power.
“What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment,” Newsom said in the video. “Do not give in to him.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gavin Newsom: Donald Trump’taking a wrecking ball’ to democracy
