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Politico
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
‘It's a winner for him': Dems work to turn LA debate from immigration to Trump's executive powers
SAN FRANCISCO — Gavin Newsom has rallied Democrats in his war with Donald Trump, casting it as a fight for the future of American democracy. But maybe not for long. As the left watches the clashes in Los Angeles drag on — with images of burning vehicles and protesters brawling with law enforcement proliferating — Democrats are also beginning to fear the imagery could hurt them by highlighting Trump's hardline positions on immigration that helped propel him to the White House. 'It's a winner for him. Remember, for (Trump), it's not California, it's not Massachusetts, it's not New York — it's that slim margin in the battleground states that he's playing for,' said Kevin de León, the former Democratic leader of the California state Senate. 'He's not going to pull back.' For Democrats, it's a concern rooted in Trump's historic strength on immigration with voters not in Los Angeles, but watching on social media and TV in swing states and districts across the country. 'There's a background and a history, and so that limits the sympathy of lots of fair-minded Americans watching this spectacle unfold,' said Will Marshall, founder of Progressive Policy Institute, a center-left think tank. In response, Democrats are scrambling to shift the debate away from deportations or immigration policy. Instead, they're trying to make it about Trump's use of executive power — and what they argue is the president's sweeping and unconstitutional overreach. Framing the conflict as an existential fight for the balance of power in America, Newsom in a speech Tuesday night delivered an ominous warning, claiming Trump is marching toward authoritarianism. He also mocked the president's plans to hold a military parade with thousands of soldiers Saturday on the streets of Washington, D.C. — saying Trump is forcing the military 'to put on a vulgar display for his birthday, just as other failed dictators have done.' 'Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,' Newsom said. 'The moment we've feared has arrived.' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat who previously served in Congress, has similarly accused Trump of provoking violence by calling in the military. But Bass, too, was explicit in her concerns about the image her city was projecting. She has repeatedly urged residents to peacefully protest to avoid giving the Trump 'administration what they want' — arguing the president is sowing chaos to justify his power grab. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Newsom of trying to distract from upheaval on the streets of Los Angeles. 'Gavin Newsom is desperately trying to turn the conversation away from the wall-to-wall coverage of how he enabled lawless, violent riots against American law enforcement in support of criminal illegal aliens,' she said in an email. Democrats have some reason for optimism. A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday found Trump's approval rating on immigration dropping 5 percentage points from April, to 43 percent. And YouGov polling this week found a plurality of Americans — 45 percent — disapproved of deploying the National Guard to the Los Angeles area, while 38 percent approved. Democrats are pushing to keep the focus on the president's use of executive powers, with Newsom and state officials suing to stop Trump's unilateral deployment of Marines and commandeering of the state's National Guard troops. A U.S. District court hearing in San Francisco is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. De León, the former state Senate leader, said the optics of Marines — wearing fatigues and trained for lethal combat — rolling into America's second largest city has given Democrats an opening to force a broader debate over presidential powers. 'It shocks your senses — this act should send shivers down every American citizen's spine, regardless of their political persuasion,' said De León, a former Los Angeles city councilmember who also authored California's sanctuary law that limits police cooperation with immigration agents. 'It's so un-American. These are things that you think about in some Eastern European country during the Cold War, or in the Soviet Union.' Newsom has also highlighted the lack of logistical preparation for the deployments, including reports that Guard troops arrived without sleeping arrangements or funding for fuel, water and food. He and Bass both assailed Trump over the Pentagon's estimate that the deployments will cost $134 million, which they have called unnecessary and wasteful. But as much as Democrats have forced Trump to play defense in the courts, the severity of civil unrest in Los Angeles, including burning cars and vandalism in pockets of downtown, have given many in the party heartburn. 'Gavin Newsom, take control of the situation,' former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, told POLITICO. 'The more the national brand is aligned with this level of instability, and defending people that are beating up cops, that national storyline, that national brand is not going to be good for candidates.' In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said, 'If our troops didn't go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now.' Some Democrats insist they aren't thinking about the political calculation. Rep. Lou Correa, who represents nearby Orange County, flew home from Congress Monday night to deal with the havoc that immigration actions have wreaked in Santa Ana, a heavily Latino suburb that has been hit with ICE sweeps, including raids targeting day laborers at Home Depots. 'I don't know what the message is of the Democratic Party, but I can tell you as a member of Congress, that my message is, essentially, these are hardworking individuals,' Correa said. 'I mean, this is terror in our communities.' Protests over escalating ICE sweeps are now spreading to other blue cities — including Austin, New York, Boston, Chicago and Portland. In the Pacific Northwest, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said his city is hoping to avoid the spectacle of Los Angeles by preparing its police force to tamp down unruly protesters. He said the city learned that lesson after it became a Republican target over its handling of 2020 racial justice protests, when Trump sent in Department of Homeland Security agents. 'The federal government coming here [in 2020 was] because we weren't properly handling the force,' Wilson said. 'But we've changed so much.' When similar protests transpired in Seattle that year, then-Gov. Jay Inslee activated the Washington National Guard. Now, the city is preparing for the possibility that troops could be sent without the invite of newly-elected Gov. Bob Ferguson, another Democrat. House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), whose district includes part of Seattle, cast a stark contrast between the 2020 protests in the Northwest and the current protests in Los Angeles or Seattle. 'Things were out of control in Seattle in 2020, there is no arguing that,' Smith said. 'This is an entirely different thing. This is the president superseding local and state authority to bring the military in where they are not needed.' California Democrats argue Trump's deployment of the military wasn't triggered by an ineffective law enforcement response in the Los Angeles area, but by a desire to expand his presidential powers — a threat that many Democrats, including presidential nominee Kamala Harris, warned about during the 2024 election. 'It's as plain as day right now, and it's scary,' said Brian Brokaw, a veteran Democratic consultant and Newsom adviser. 'Now, what we are seeing is the practical manifestation.' Brakkton Booker and Liz Crampton contributed to this report.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘It's a winner for him': Dems work to turn LA debate from immigration to Trump's executive powers
SAN FRANCISCO — Gavin Newsom has rallied Democrats in his war with Donald Trump, casting it as a fight for the future of American democracy. But maybe not for long. As the left watches the clashes in Los Angeles drag on — with images of burning vehicles and protesters brawling with law enforcement proliferating — Democrats are also beginning to fear the imagery could hurt them by highlighting Trump's hardline positions on immigration that helped propel him to the White House. 'It's a winner for him. Remember, for (Trump), it's not California, it's not Massachusetts, it's not New York — it's that slim margin in the battleground states that he's playing for,' said Kevin de León, the former Democratic leader of the California state Senate. 'He's not going to pull back.' For Democrats, it's a concern rooted in Trump's historic strength on immigration with voters not in Los Angeles, but watching on social media and TV in swing states and districts across the country. 'There's a background and a history, and so that limits the sympathy of lots of fair-minded Americans watching this spectacle unfold,' said Will Marshall, founder of Progressive Policy Institute, a center-left think tank. In response, Democrats are scrambling to shift the debate away from deportations or immigration policy. Instead, they're trying to make it about Trump's use of executive power — and what they argue is the president's sweeping and unconstitutional overreach. Framing the conflict as an existential fight for the balance of power in America, Newsom in a speech Tuesday night delivered an ominous warning, claiming Trump is marching toward authoritarianism. He also mocked the president's plans to hold a military parade with thousands of soldiers Saturday on the streets of Washington, D.C. — saying Trump is forcing the military 'to put on a vulgar display for his birthday, just as other failed dictators have done.' 'Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,' Newsom said. 'The moment we've feared has arrived.' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat who previously served in Congress, has similarly accused Trump of provoking violence by calling in the military. But Bass, too, was explicit in her concerns about the image her city was projecting. She has repeatedly urged residents to peacefully protest to avoid giving the Trump 'administration what they want' — arguing the president is sowing chaos to justify his power grab. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Newsom of trying to distract from upheaval on the streets of Los Angeles. 'Gavin Newsom is desperately trying to turn the conversation away from the wall-to-wall coverage of how he enabled lawless, violent riots against American law enforcement in support of criminal illegal aliens,' she said in an email. Democrats have some reason for optimism. A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday found Trump's approval rating on immigration dropping 5 percentage points from April, to 43 percent. And YouGov polling this week found a plurality of Americans — 45 percent — disapproved of deploying the National Guard to the Los Angeles area, while 38 percent approved. Democrats are pushing to keep the focus on the president's use of executive powers, with Newsom and state officials suing to stop Trump's unilateral deployment of Marines and commandeering of the state's National Guard troops. A U.S. District court hearing in San Francisco is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. De León, the former state Senate leader, said the optics of Marines — wearing fatigues and trained for lethal combat — rolling into America's second largest city has given Democrats an opening to force a broader debate over presidential powers. 'It shocks your senses — this act should send shivers down every American citizen's spine, regardless of their political persuasion,' said De León, a former Los Angeles city councilmember who also authored California's sanctuary law that limits police cooperation with immigration agents. 'It's so un-American. These are things that you think about in some Eastern European country during the Cold War, or in the Soviet Union.' Newsom has also highlighted the lack of logistical preparation for the deployments, including reports that Guard troops arrived without sleeping arrangements or funding for fuel, water and food. He and Bass both assailed Trump over the Pentagon's estimate that the deployments will cost $134 million, which they have called unnecessary and wasteful. But as much as Democrats have forced Trump to play defense in the courts, the severity of civil unrest in Los Angeles, including burning cars and vandalism in pockets of downtown, have given many in the party heartburn. 'Gavin Newsom, take control of the situation,' former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, told POLITICO. 'The more the national brand is aligned with this level of instability, and defending people that are beating up cops, that national storyline, that national brand is not going to be good for candidates.' In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said, 'If our troops didn't go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now.' Some Democrats insist they aren't thinking about the political calculation. Rep. Lou Correa, who represents nearby Orange County, flew home from Congress Monday night to deal with the havoc that immigration actions have wreaked in Santa Ana, a heavily Latino suburb that has been hit withICE sweeps, including raids targeting day laborers at Home Depots. 'I don't know what the message is of the Democratic Party, but I can tell you as a member of Congress, that my message is, essentially, these are hardworking individuals,' Correa said. 'I mean, this is terror in our communities.' Protests over escalating ICE sweeps are now spreading to other blue cities — including Austin, New York, Boston, Chicago and Portland. In the Pacific Northwest, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said his city is hoping to avoid the spectacle of Los Angeles by preparing its police force to tamp down unruly protesters. He said the city learned that lesson after it became a Republican target over its handling of 2020 racial justice protests, when Trump sent in Department of Homeland Security agents. 'The federal government coming here [in 2020 was] because we weren't properly handling the force,' Wilson said. 'But we've changed so much.' When similar protests transpired in Seattle that year, then-Gov. Jay Inslee activated the Washington National Guard. Now, the city is preparing for the possibility that troops could be sent without the invite of newly-elected Gov. Bob Ferguson, another Democrat. House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), whose district includes part of Seattle, cast a stark contrast between the 2020 protests in the Northwest and the current protests in Los Angeles or Seattle. 'Things were out of control in Seattle in 2020, there is no arguing that,' Smith said. 'This is an entirely different thing. This is the president superseding local and state authority to bring the military in where they are not needed.' California Democrats argue Trump's deployment of the military wasn't triggered by an ineffective law enforcement response in the Los Angeles area, but by a desire to expand his presidential powers — a threat that many Democrats, including presidential nominee Kamala Harris, warned about during the 2024 election. 'It's as plain as day right now, and it's scary,' said Brian Brokaw, a veteran Democratic consultant and Newsom adviser. 'Now, what we are seeing is the practical manifestation.' Brakkton Booker and Liz Crampton contributed to this report.
Newsweek
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Trump Policies Hurt Workers in America's Heartland. Democrats Have To Say So
The Democratic Party faces a whole mess of problems today. But if its post-2024 shortcomings could be reduced to any single thing, it would be this: We've become more concerned with those who shower before work than after. Many of the Biden administration's priorities—forgiving student debt, banning exports of cleaner natural gas, placating protesters chanting about the "patriarchy"—made us look like tribunes of the nation's liberal elite. No matter the pains we took to verbalize our love for the working class, our actions spoke louder than our words. Now, I don't doubt that many Democrats are eager to win back the working-class voters we've lost over the last decade. But, as many of my colleagues and friends agreed at a recent conference organized by the Progressive Policy Institute in Denver—titled "New Directions for Democrats"—our party's failure to focus on issues that directly affect working-class voters opened the door for MAGAism. To win those voters back, we will need to focus anew on the guys who return home from work drenched in sweat, and the women who stagger back from their hospital shifts burdened by exhaustion. That means changes in both our style and our substance. Too often, we try to skirt the hard work that entails by focusing exclusively on President Donald Trump. I don't care for him any more than the next guy—but the hard truth is that we'll never make inroads by ranting against the "oligarchy" alone. Instead, we need to make clear what the Trump administration is doing to undermine the working-class American Dream. The specters of fascism, racism, xenophobia, and transphobia might draw crowds to rallies, but if we're going to reconnect with working-class voters, we need to make their cause our primary concern. And begins by highlighting how Donald Trump is affecting their communities directly. WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 28: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025... WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 28: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. MoreTake, as an example, the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program. Millions of working-class families have long depended on federal subsidies to cover the costs of home heating. Bills were rising even before Trump's tariff madness—and now they're set to rise even more. And yet the Trump administration has laid off huge portions of the staff assigned to disbursing those funds, and the White House has more recently proposed to end the program in next year's budget. When strapped families find that it costs much more to heat their homes this coming winter, they should be made aware that Trump is to blame. Democrats shouldn't muddle that message. Or consider the Trump administration's approach to Medicaid. Republicans like to frame the program as a grift for poor urban communities that consume billions through waste, fraud, and abuse. But many of the hospitals most vulnerable to the GOP's cuts are located in the rural heartland—places where people must drive hours to find facilities capable of handling heart attacks or delivering babies. When those hospitals are shuttered in the years ahead, Republicans will try to claim that Democrats were to blame. The reality will be that Republicans cut rural hospitals off at the knees. Democrats need to make voters aware. Finally, note the issues of housing and work apprenticeships. Again, Republicans would have voters believe that federal housing resources go to 1950s-style projects in rough urban neighborhoods, and that apprenticeships are giveaways to failing urban schools. But when Trump calls for a 40 percent cut in rental assistance, including to rural areas, and slashes apprenticeship programs like those that teach workers how to handle the hard work of caring for livestock, the effects will be felt in the reddest parts of the country. Unless Democrats consistently highlight those consequences, voters won't know. Here, in the end, is the problem: Democrats have spent years talking to the wrong voters and listening to groups that advocate on issues that simply don't resonate in places like working-class Northeastern Ohio, where I grew up. Now, as then, people living in the heartland know when a politician is talking to other types of voters—and that's what we've been doing. The Trump administration has gotten away with lying to working-class communities because Democrats haven't done the hard work of explaining why MAGAism cuts against working-class interests. Unless we figure that out, we're bound to remain lost. Tim Ryan is a Senior Advisor at the Progressive Policy institute. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Liberals Should Focus on Class, Not Race
Race-based affirmative action no longer has a place in college admissions after the Supreme Court in 2023 eliminated what had been an attempt by universities to create multiracial campuses. In Class Matters: The Fight To Get Beyond Race Preferences, Reduce Inequality, and Build Real Diversity at America's Colleges, Richard D. Kahlenberg, a liberal who testified for the conservatives who brought those cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, lays out his decades-long push for university admissions, and Democrats, to focus on class rather than race. Kahlenberg is director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute and teaches at George Washington University. This transcript has been edited and condensed. Nia-Malika Henderson: The Trump administration sees diversity, equity and inclusion as 'woke' so they're moving to strip DEI out of the federal government and elsewhere. What do you make of that?
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch Live — Charters at a Crossroads: Navigating Era of Legal Change for Public Education
As the U.S. Supreme Court justices consider the constitutionality of religious charters, could a favorable ruling reshape the charter landscape — or undermine their foundational principles? Join The 74 and the Progressive Policy Institute at 2 p.m. ET Thursday for a special conversation about the pivotal case. PPI's Curtis Valentine will lead a conversation with Richard Kahlenberg, Jason Zwara of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and Eric Paisner of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools about the potential implications of the decision for charter school governance, state funding, church-state separation and educational equity. Sign up for the Zoom right here or tune in to this page Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET to stream the event. Recent school choice coverage from The 74:
