Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) dialed up the rhetoric against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing him of posing an “authoritarian” threat to the country.
During a friendly interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Newsom argued that the president’s move to federalize the National Guard and send thousands of troops to patrol Los Angeles earlier this year illustrated that he holds more than “authoritarian tendencies.” Trump is building an “army” of people who are more loyal to obeying his commands than the U.S. Constitution, the governor suggested.
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“People ask, ‘Well, is authoritarianism you being hyperbolic?’ Bull****, we’re being hyperbolic. If you’re a black or brown community, it’s here in this country,” Newsom told Colbert. “These are not just authoritarian tendencies; these are authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”
He went on to raise concerns that he fears the United States will not hold democratic elections in 2028.
“I really mean that in the core of my soul,” he said. “Unless we wake up to the code red of what’s happening in this country and we wake up soberly to how serious this moment is.”
Newsom has long been a harsh critic of Trump. Even before the president sparked his ire by sending troops to Los Angeles to quell protests and riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, the California Democrat vowed to resist Trump’s agenda, bringing dozens of lawsuits against the government on a variety of issues.
Newsom has resisted, among other matters, the Trump administration’s findings that California laws providing regulation on LGBT policy that issue protection on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex violate federal law. He has also fought government findings that concluded leading California universities violated federal law by failing to provide sufficient protection to Jewish students from antisemitism, which resulted in the loss of billions in federal funding to those institutions.
On Tuesday evening, the California governor accused Trump of “flooding the zone” and “dominating the narratives” with lies. The Democratic Party has failed to adequately respond to the White House, Newsom lamented, as the rumored 2028 presidential contender positions himself as the leader of the opposition.
“Facts don’t seem to matter, and Democrats, frankly, have had a difficult time pushing back … There’s sort of this weakness that dominates our brand and our party,” Newsom told Colbert. “I think what people appreciate is that we are willing to fight. And not only fight symbolically by having a little bit of fun, but fight substantively. We have 41 lawsuits against the son of a b****. We’re pushing back and we’re winning and we’re filling a void on a lot of issues.”
Newsom also appeared to take a jab at former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom polls show would be his leading competitor should they both run as Democrats for the presidency in 2028.
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“As the Democratic Party, we have a lot of work to do to make up for our failures in the past. We got crushed in this last election,” Newsom said, referencing the 2024 election, which Harris lost to Trump.
The governor’s strong words come amid warnings from both sides of the aisle to turn down heated rhetoric. Bipartisan concerns have been raised that increased polarization contributes to political violence and the radicalization of extremist factions that have spurred assassination attempts on leading political figures, including the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month. Trump has survived two assassination attempts in the last 14 months.