As the 2024 presidential race fades from memory, potential candidates for 2028 plot their course.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is high on the list of potential candidates now, but he is term-limited out of office in 2026. Therefore, he is acting to ensure his relevance by being a General in the War Against Trump.
And he wants $25 million dollars from the state’s coffers to fund it.
California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday announced he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal fights with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.The announcement came on the first day of a special session of the California legislature dedicated to preparing the liberal state for the second term of conservative Trump. If approved by the legislature, the California Department of Justice and state agencies would get the extra funding for court battles in areas such as reproductive rights, environmental protection and immigration.“The new litigation fund will help safeguard critical funding for disaster relief, health care, and other vital services that millions of Californians depend on daily”, the governor wrote in the proposal. He added the state plans to “defend against unlawful federal actions that could jeopardize not only tangible resources and the state’s economy” as well as protection of reproductive health care and civil rights.The fights could also force the federal government to pay needed funding, Newsom said in a statement, citing successful legal skirmishes with the federal government during the first Trump administration.
While this approach may appeal to Trump-hating progressives, many wish to Newsom-proof the state at this point.
There are already many Newsom-created failures and controversies, and targeting Trump in an expensive #Resistance campaign will add to an expansive list that includes:
While $25 million may seem like chump change to a state that has squandered billions, the expenditure will be another “L” in the column as 2028 heats up, given California’s current budget deficit problems.
Last month, California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, or LAO, which is the nonpartisan state department that advises California’s policymakers on the state’s fiscal issues, increased their estimate for the state’s 2024–25 budget deficit to $73 billion. This estimate substantially exceeds Gavin Newsom’s estimate of a $38 billion deficit. Both estimates stand in sharp contrast to the state’s $100 billion surplus from two years earlier.
One last point: Newsom assumes the media conditions are the same as during Trump’s first term. They are not.
Between “X” and podcasts such as Joe Rogan, the Trump team has a broader array of venues to get their messages out and undermine Newsom’s #Resistance movement this time around. The “L’s” could get a lot bigger for Newsom in the wake of critical media attention and losses in court.
As I have said, the smart play may be to act as a “centrist” in the next election cycle. But Newsom clearly has more beauty than brains.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY