Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) tried to attack Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for taking a moment to enjoy the annual Congressional baseball game, claiming that he’d left National Guard troops and U.S. Marines deployed in California without access to basic necessities.
Newsom was responding to a photo, posted by the @DODRapidResponse account, that showed Hegseth taking in the Wednesday evening game with family. “America’s @SecDef. America’s favorite pastime,” the caption read.
America’s @SecDef ???????????????? America’s favorite past time pic.twitter.com/dzQ9f86dwi
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 11, 2025
Newsom replied with one of the same photos he’d shared earlier in the week — when he’d claimed that President Donald Trump and Hegseth had deployed troops to California without ensuring that their basic needs were met — and argued further that the National Guard and Marines “weren’t needed” in the first place.
“Pete sent 4,700 troops here (when they weren’t needed) without adequate fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. But don’t worry, he’s at a baseball game,” Newsom posted.
Pete sent 4,700 troops here (when they weren’t needed) without adequate fuel, food, water or a place to sleep.
But don’t worry, he’s at a baseball game. https://t.co/C6g0327GCF pic.twitter.com/2L1G9qN3LT
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 12, 2025
The @DODRapidResponse account responded with a photo from the riots that rocked Los Angeles for two days before Trump ordered the California National Guard to provide assistance to local law enforcement. In the photo, a man could be seen waving a Mexican flag, surrounded by smoke from the cars that were being burned in the streets. Accompanying the photo was a two-word caption, mockingly quoting Newsom’s claim that the troops “weren’t needed.”
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“Weren’t needed” https://t.co/27EfQvFhma pic.twitter.com/MpFuX65eH2
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 12, 2025
Protests and riots had erupted in the Los Angeles area beginning nearly a week prior, when demonstrators attempted to disrupt Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they conducted operations. In the days that followed, rioters destroyed property, looted stores, and attacked local law enforcement officers and federal agents. Blaming Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, also a Democrat, for failing to protect people, Trump ordered first the National Guard and then a number of active duty Marines to rein in the situation.