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California governor says ‘democracy is under assault’ by Trump as feds intervene in LA protestsPrevious

Calling President Donald Trump a threat to the American way of life, Governor Gavin Newsom depicted the federal military intervention in Los Angeles as the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy.

In a speech Tuesday evening, the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate said the arrival of National Guard and Marine troops in the city at Trump’s direction was not simply about quelling protests that followed a series of immigration raids by federal authorities. Instead, he said, it was part of a calculated “war” intended to upend the foundations of society and concentrate power in the White House.

“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next,” a somber Newsom warned, seated before the US and California flags. “Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

As head of the heavily Democratic state known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance, Newsom and the Republican president have long been adversaries. But the governor’s speech delivered in prime time argued that Trump was not just a threat to democracy, but was actively working to break down its guardrails that reach back to the nation’s founding.