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The Best of Newsom's Speech [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-11

After a vitriol laced speech by Trump at Fort Bragg, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a rousing and inspiring speech that I wish I could have written. If he was using a teleprompter, I couldn't tell. There was no way he could have made it up on the spot. It was so good, you could say he just launched his presidential campaign for 2028.

It was titled as "Democracy at the Crossroads." It was all about the wrongs Trump has done to the country focused through the lens of the protests in Los Angeles. Here's some of the best bits:

Newsom: What's happening right now is very different than anything we've seen before. On Saturday morning, when federal agents jumped out of an unmarked van near a Home Depot parking lot, the began grabbing people. A deliberate targeting of a Latino suburb. A similar scene also played out when a clothing company was raided downtown.

Newsom: In response, everyday Angelinos came out to exercise their Constitutional right to free speech and assembly, to protest their government's actions.

Newsom: What then ensued was the use of tear gas, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights.

After calling the use of National Guard troops illegal:

Newsom: He doubles down on his National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder. And the president, he did it on purpose. As news spread throughout L.A., anxiety for family, and friends ramped up. Protests started again.

He talked about those who were arrested by the LAPD, and thanked the police for their service, and how the protests and activity was limited to a few square blocks downtown.

Newsom: But that, that's not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. He federalized another 2000 Guard members. He's deployed more than 700 active US Marines. These are men and women trained in foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement. We honor their service. We honor their bravery. But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. Not in LA. Not in California. Not anywhere.

Newsom: Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, going well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals.

Newsom: That's just weakness, weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting communities. They are traumatizing our communities. And that seems to be the entire point.

Newsom goes on to talk about the lawsuit that California has filed against the Trump Administration.

Newsom: If some of us can be snatched off the street without a warrant, based only on suspicion or color of skin, then none of us are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there.

Newsom: And by the way, Trump, he's not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than January 6th?

Newsom: I ask everyone: Take time, reflect on this perilous moment. A president who wants to be bound by no law or Constitution, perpetuating an assault on American traditions.

Newsom: He's declared a war. A war on culture, on history, on science, knowledge itself. Databases are quite literally vanishing.

Newsom: He's delegitimizing news organizations and he's assaulting the First Amendment.

The threats against universities and law firms.

Newsom: He's calling for a sitting Governor to be arrested for no other reason than to, in his own words,"for getting elected."

Newsom: And we all know, this Saturday, he's ordering our American heroes, the United States military, and forcing them to put on a vulgar display to celebrate his birthday, just as other failed dictators have done in the past.

Democracy under assault.

Newsom: There are no longer any checks or balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated his responsibility. The rule of law has increasingly been given away to the rule of Don.

The most important office is the office of citizen.

Newsom: At this moment, at this moment, we all need to stand up and be held to account, a higher level of accountability. If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully.

Newsom: I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear. But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give it to him!

So far, all the news media are covering the speech, but not the reactions by people or other politicians. No one has posted on it on my usual rounds of social media accounts.

I see this speech as a game changer. It needs way more coverage to what Governor Newsom said. Maybe that will change. Maybe other politicians will give their critique of it. A full reaction from Trump is coming, and that will tell us all about what Trump is.

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