Newsom's Presidential Launch is a Riot

Victor Joecks on Jun 17, 2025

Most governors would see looting, mayhem and attacks on police officers as problems to fix. California Gov. Gavin Newsom sees them as a means to boosting his presidential ambitions.

After several days of violent riots in Los Angeles, Newsom delivered a speech he entitled "Democracy at a Crossroads." He attacked federal officials for enforcing federal immigration law. He downplayed the initial destruction by noting state and local officials "sent our police officers to help keep the peace and, with some exceptions, they were successful."

That's like saying that the Titanic had an uneventful voyage with some exceptions.

He saved his harshest words for President Donald Trump. He accused Trump of starting a "downward spiral" by deploying the California National Guard to Los Angeles to restore order. That was Trump "fanning the flames even harder," Newsom said.

This is like a criminal defense lawyer trying to exonerate his client by blaming the police. "If only the officers hadn't arrested him, he wouldn't have attacked them." It's beyond parody.

"Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived," Newsom said. He continued, "The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don."

Think about this for a moment. Trump ran on mass deportations and just won decisively. The riots are an attempt to stop federal officials from enforcing immigration law. If Newsom cared about democracy or the rule of law, he'd be helping Trump deport illegal immigrants.

But as these riots have made obvious -- once again -- what Newsom really cares about is running for president. And since his side gig as a podcast host hasn't gone well, Newsom is trying a new approach.

Nothing unifies the Democrat base more than opposing Trump -- even if it puts someone on the side of civil unrest and illegal immigration. And Newsom is making the most of this opportunity. Along with repeatedly bashing Trump, he sued over Trump's troop deployment. Trump has jumped into the fray too, musing about arresting Newsom and calling him "Newscum" on Truth Social.

"Newsom leans into L.A. unrest to position himself as leader of opposition," the Wall Street Journal wrote last week.

Newsom interviewed with the paper on Monday evening. That night, police arrested 96 people for failure to disperse, according to a LAPD release. It continued, "Two LAPD officers were injured and transported to a local hospital for medical treatment and released. Several businesses were looted during the evening, with 14 arrests made for Looting. During the crowd control situation, there were numerous less-lethal rounds used by the LAPD."

What a perfect encapsulation of Newsom's tenure. Instead of fixing problems, he responds with a PR blitz to boost his personal political fortunes.

The New York Times raved that he used his speech "to seize a political moment." NBC News wrote this "could be the most consequential political fight of his career." The BBC said the clash with Trump "offers a political opportunity for a man whose term in office ends next year and has his own presidential ambitions."

"I'm not thinking about running, but it's a path that I could see unfold," Newsom told the Wall Street Journal.

Technically, that's probably true. Newsom isn't thinking about running for president. He's obsessing over it.

Picking a high-profile fight with Trump may be a good strategy for winning Democratic primary voters. But doing so on this issue isn't likely to play well in a nationwide general election.

Some people use life's lemons to make lemonade. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is using burning Waymo taxis to make his case to be president. What a riot.

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Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the Sharpening Arrows podcast. Email him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or follow @victorjoecks on X. To find out more about Victor Joecks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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