After months of intraparty sniping, heterodox podcast appearances, and executive vetoes, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) bent the knee and kissed the ring. His yearlong rebellion is over, the left won back its first serious presidential candidate, and the Democratic Party’s moderating forces seem to be losing.
Republicans are laughing all the way to the polls.
The ghost of Chris Christie’s political future hangs over any partisan crisis interactions, and the White House seriously narrowed the tightrope Newsom could walk.
Newsom has been trying to put some distance between his long, public past and his ambitious future for well over a year now. Even before November’s presidential election, he knew which way the wind was blowing.
For example, in October 2023, he vetoed a radical transgender kids bill. This year, he began appearing with conservative podcasters, including Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, and said that men should not be competing in women’s sports — breaking with current Democratic Party dogma.
Few of his fellow party members came to his defense. Gay activist groups and prominent Democratic politicians (and presidential candidates) like Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota loudly criticized Newsom for pitting his ambitions against “the most vulnerable,” while his supporters quietly whispered to reporters on background that he’s right and they agree. Their relative silence makes it tough to tell how the broader Democratic Party actually took this messaging. But when one side silently watches its champions get torn up and the other vocally tears them down, it’s easy to tell who’s in charge – and it isn’t the voices of moderation.
Newsom wasn’t the only Democrat flirting with apostasy, but he was by far the most visible. Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and Obama consigliere, has long warned against the party’s progressive excesses. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another supposed moderate, stayed silent through the whole mess — a luxury afforded to those safely on the sidelines.
Newsom, by contrast, walked straight into the transgender minefield. As governor of the nation’s largest state and the Democrats’ most visible rising star, he faced more high-stakes tests — and more chances to lead — than any of his peers. The California wildfires gave him a golden opportunity: Cut through Los Angeles red tape, expose local mismanagement, and fast-track rebuilding to score a win.
He blew it. As of last week, Altadena, which lost hundreds of homes in January, had issued just 15 rebuilding permits. So much for seizing the moment.
Then came the riot’s fires. Again, Newsom had every opportunity to lead. He could have cracked down on the violent street crime from the outset, ordered California law enforcement to protect federal officers, and restored order — even while criticizing the president. Instead, he logged on and sided with the rioters.
Some of that posturing likely came under pressure from the White House, which refused to let Los Angeles — or California — off the hook. After state officials declined to back federal agents, President Trump took control. He denied Newsom authority over the National Guard, deployed U.S. Marines to bolster federal presence, and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to restore law and order by force.
For years, Trump has trumpeted an invasion of military-age foreign men, while people like Newsom and L.A.’s deeply unserious mayor called him a racist and a tyrant. There’s little more embarrassing for California Democrats than the imagery of masked men waving foreign flags in front of looted shops and burning vehicles.
It all put Newsom in a terrible bind. Los Angeles has long been a haven for illegal gangs, and California remains prime territory for cartel activity. His reckoning arrived — and Trump made sure the spotlight stayed on him. The ghost of Chris Christie loomed large: a cautionary tale of what happens when partisan posturing meets real crisis. Even with the LAPD showing up in force Tuesday night, the damage is done.
Flipping off the cameras for the first couple of days while your state’s largest city burns is exactly the kind of meltdown Republicans dream about. Tweeting in Spanish about the Founding Fathers peacefully resisting didn’t help his case, either.
In the short term, bashing Trump made sense — at least for a Democratic primary. The base loved it. In fact, this week marked the first time all year a major activist outlet ran glowing coverage of Newsom. That’s how you know he finally gave them what they wanted.
But nationally, the political winds are shifting — and fast. A recent CNN poll showed a staggering 40-point swing among legal immigrants, from backing Democratic immigration policies to supporting Republicans. Even Politico admitted the optics of the riots were a disaster. And even the New York Times’ reporting conceded: Trump had the legal authority to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Newsom had few good options. Los Angeles has gone up in flames twice this year alone, and both disasters bear the fingerprints of Democratic mismanagement. The president stands on firm legal ground and popular national sentiment. The Democratic base, meanwhile, demands total opposition — no matter how insane the circumstances. Newsom knew he couldn’t count on the party’s so-called moderates to back him in a real fight. So he folded.
Now he’s their standard-bearer — whether he likes it or not. That might help him survive the early rounds of the primary, but could prove a burden later on. And will it be enough? Probably not. The base doesn’t want compromise. It wants a war. And this week, it won its first major battle.
Blaze News: Order mostly restored in Los Angeles after days of riots, but the damage is done
The Spectator: Newsom blew his chance to stand for law and order
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