After his frenemy Kamala Harris lost the presidential election in decisive fashion on Tuesday, and after the state’s voters overwhelmingly voted to repeal many portions of his signature criminal justice initiative, one would think that California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be heavily engaged in strategy sessions with top advisors developing a plan to lead the Democrat party in 2028. If he has been doing that, however, he’s surrounded himself with even worse advisors than Harris had, judging by his latest stunt.
Thursday morning, while a huge wildfire was burning out of control near Los Angeles, Newsom issued a proclamation calling for a special session of the legislature to convene December 2nd to prepare to fight back against the incoming Trump administration.
The press release announcing the proclamation made clear who Newsom is concerned about, and that’s not hardworking Californians and their families.
Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation convening a special session of the California Legislature to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration. The special session will focus on bolstering California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families.
In the proclamation Newsom outlined a list of actions he believes the Trump administration will undertake – some of which are not based in reality – and requests that lawmakers send more money to the California DOJ and other agencies so they can prepare to fight back. That’s right, while the state has a $68 billion (or so) budget deficit, and while Californians are struggling to afford gasoline, food, and to pay their power bills, Newsom wants even more money so his administration can fight to keep illegal immigrants here. Stunning.
Here’s Newsom’s list of alleged “consequences” of a Trump presidency for California:
- Continuing the assault on reproductive freedom by limiting access to medication abortion, expanding conscience objections for employers and providers, and pursuing a national abortion ban;
- Undoing clean vehicle policies that are critical to combating climate change and dismantling other long-standing environmental protections for clean air and clean water;
- Repealing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and reinstituting immigration policies that lead to family separations;
- Withholding disaster response funding and individual assistance for victims of disasters as political retribution; and
- Politicizing grant programs to commandeer state and local governmental resources for federal purposes
As to the first one, Newsom is engaging in pure fear-mongering. In 2022 California voters passed Proposition 1, which made abortion a right under the state constitution. There is no way that Donald Trump would sign a national abortion ban, even if Congress could get one passed, so there is no threat to abortion “rights” in California. As to his other assertions, those are all issues that are decided on a state-by-state basis. Clearly, Newsom believes (erroneously, in my opinion) that people across the country are as extreme on the question of abortion as he is. If that were true, Kamala Harris wouldn’t have lost by at least 4 million votes.
Likewise, Newsom is completely delusional on the issue of illegal immigration and DACA, and the results of this election prove it. But, his buddies and donors are all now invested in the illegal immigrant industrial complex and they want him to keep that gravy train rolling.
One top Democrat in California is urging Newsom and his colleagues to pause a beat. Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said:
“Voters sent a clear message this election, and we need to lean-in and listen. But we also must be prepared to defend California values, no matter the challenges ahead, so it makes sense to consider the Governor’s proposal. I’m ready to fight harder than ever for opportunity, equality and a Golden State that works for each and every resident.”
What message did California voters send this election? Well, there was a huge swing toward Trump.
Rivas is right to urge caution; whenever Gavin Newsom says he wants to “fix” something, like homelessness or gas prices, he actually makes the issue worse. We just witnessed that with the special session he called related to gas prices.
State regulators are set to vote Friday on new regulations that are anticipated to raise gas prices in the state 65 cents a gallon.
Looks like I better fill up my tank today, if I can find a gas station that has power.
