What triggered the American Civil War were state officials who refused to honor federal law and instead boasted of their open defiance of Washington.
That precedent appears to be the incendiary model for the increasingly erratic behavior of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Has Newsom accepted the polls and decided to end his political career in a blaze of ideological glory?
He now backs the often-violent protesters in Los Angeles resisting federal enforcement of immigration laws. Newsom labeled President Trump’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain those here illegally “reckless,” “chaotic,” and “eroding trust.”
Does he imagine that this rhetoric is calming the situation or building public trust? Or is he consciously following the model of Confederate President Jefferson Davis?
Does Newsom also support the defiance of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who nearly called for official resistance to federal law, declaring, “We will not stand for this”?
Bass — who was junketing in Ghana as large swaths of Los Angeles burned in January — used the term “we.” Does she mean the entire city? The LAPD? Will Bass direct city police to block federal officers lawfully enforcing federal immigration statutes?
Does the governor understand that his reckless rhetoric about “states’ rights” empowers violent protesters who torch vehicles, assault civilians, and attack officers?
Consider fellow California Democrat Rep. Norma Torres. She issued a vulgar message to federal immigration officers: “Get the f**k out of L.A.”
Does Torres now believe Los Angeles should become the 21st-century South Carolina, circa 1861, defying the federal government outright?
Is she echoing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who recently boasted he would “identify” endangered ICE agents and publicize their personal information? His words: “Every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will of course be identified.”
Does Torres view ICE officers — outnumbered, undermanned, and increasingly under siege — as modern-day incarnations of the federal troops cornered at Fort Sumter?
Newsom didn’t stop at siding with street protesters who resist federal authority. He also lashed out again at the Trump administration for warning California that it must comply with federal Title IX executive orders prohibiting biological males from competing in women’s sports.
Trump, in this case, followed the precedent set by the Obama administration, which also threatened to cut off funding from schools to schools that refused to follow its Title IX interpretations.
Here’s how Newsom responded: “Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off.”
Cut that off?
Has Newsom read the Constitution?
Is he actually calling for Californians to stop paying federal taxes? Does he understand he just implicitly endorsed felony tax evasion under 18 USC Section 2?
States have no legal authority to withhold federal income taxes from their citizens. In 1861, rhetoric like that nearly destroyed the Union.
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Photo by BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Images
And does Newsom really believe that California’s supposed $80 billion “contribution” somehow bankrolls the federal government? That surplus amounts to just 1.5% of the $5.5 trillion in federal revenue this fiscal year. Hardly enough to “pay the bills.”
California taxpayers are American citizens first, Californians second. Newsom, with his history of championing sanctuary cities and nullifying federal law, increasingly resembles a modern-day George Wallace.
But Newsom, Bass, and Torres aren’t just echoing Confederate-style defiance. They’re also swimming against public opinion.
Despite media theatrics and left-wing outrage, even CBS’ own polling found that 54% of Americans support deportation as a legitimate enforcement tool.
Meanwhile, Newsom’s political stock continues to plummet. Just 2% of Democrats in one recent poll want him as their 2028 nominee. In a broader average of 30 polls, only 27% of Americans view him favorably.
So does Newsom think violent lawbreakers — some burning the American flag while waving foreign ones — are winning over the American public?
Does he understand that 97% of Americans in a Pew Research survey said they favor deporting violent criminal aliens like those seen sowing chaos on the streets of Los Angeles?
Or has he accepted the polls — and decided to end his political career in a blaze of ideological glory?
Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally on X.
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