Gavin Newsom: Trump is ‘unhinged,' speaking like an ‘authoritarian'
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Donald Trump's threats against him and other Democrats following the president's unilateral deployment of National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area carried all the markings of authoritarianism.
'It's just an extraordinary moment, and I don't want to overstate it, but these are the words of an authoritarian,' Newsom said in a Monday interview with POLITICO. 'Whether he acts on it or not, the chill that creates is real, and it's a serious moment, very serious.'
Trump and his border czar have targeted Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass by name with threats of arrests — and other ominous unspecified acts to be carried out by the federal government if the two don't fall in line. Newsom spoke after a weekend of unrest — property destruction and bursts of violence — following immigration raids in the region.
California on Monday sued the Trump administration for authorizing the deployment against their will. The president and aides portrayed the move as just the start of potentially escalated action, including sending hundreds of U.S. Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton.
Newsom, Bass and other Democratic leaders believe Trump's moves were designed to provoke protesters to produce footage showing a major American city in chaos — as well as an attempt to distract from the uneven economy hastened by his trade standoffs and his messy breakup with Elon Musk.
'He is unhinged, and he's acting recklessly, and the threat of the Marines coming in the United States, this is a very serious and sober moment. We are going to stand firm,' Newsom said.
The Democratic governor said his state's lawsuit challenging the Guard's deployment was the latest example of relying on the nation's courts to be a check on the president's executive power.
'There's maybe a second branch of government left in this country,' Newsom said. 'We obviously lost the legislative branch to Trump and Trumpism. We pray that the courts are still holding firm.'
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