No Law or Constitution Is Safe When Gavin Newsom’s Muh Democracy Is at Stake

How messed up are politics in the Golden State? This much. 

After Texas Democrats folded like a cheap lawn chair, setting up the inevitable vote on changing the Congressional district maps for the Lone Star State in the next week or so, California’s faux tough guy, Governor Gavin Newsom, announced the mother of all press conferences to announce the releasing of his proverbial kraken. 

HUGE “HISTORIC” EVENT — THURSDAY 11:30AM PACIFIC IN LOS ANGELES!!!  A “BEAUTIFUL RALLY” / PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GAVIN CHRISTOPHER NEWSOM & STRONG DEMS. DEMOCRATS WILL DESTROY GREG ABBOTT’S “TOTALLY RIGGED MAPS.” TREMENDOUS WORK IS BEING DONE.  DONALD TRUMP (THE CRIMINAL…

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 13, 2025

Somehow, Newsom and his PR team think they’re being funny and biting by mocking Trump’s style of tweeting/Truth Socializing. I wrote recently that in mastering the acerbic art of mockery, one cannot himself be a clown, or else the result just looks pathetic and stupid. This series of tweets by the Gavin Newsom Press Office should be a casebook in how not to engage your political opponents in mockery. It’s wincingly bad. 

But a press conference, Gavin and his team of sycophants did hold on Thursday. Former KTTV-11 anchor/reporter Elex Michaelson did what no other reporter/photographer in the press gallery dared to do – pan out and give people a sense of the room and how well-attended it was. 

Crowd in place for @GavinNewsom rally announcing what he calls the “Election Rigging Response Act.”

It’s the Democratic gerrymander plan to counter potential gerrymandering from Texas Republicans.

Much of California’s Democratic leadership is at the Tateuchi Democracy Forum. pic.twitter.com/EzcgawAhRs

— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) August 14, 2025

I’ve seen more people at a taping of the Price Is Right. The head count? 106. 

Official count is in: just 106 people showed up to Gavin Newsom’s rally today—and that’s including staff and press.

— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) August 14, 2025

Muh democracy is on the line, we have to change the California Constitution because we’re facing such a dire emergency, this is the most important press conference ever, and the front row consists of…Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, who are both Senators elected statewide and have no personal interest whatsoever in how Congressional lines are drawn. In addition, leaders of the Service Employee International Union, California Teachers’ Association, the California Labor Federation, and Planned Parenthood were also present in the front row. In short, California’s governor, the man currently starring in the Golden State theatrical production of Pinocchio, is always connected by strings to not one Gepetto, but about five of them. They were all right there pulling on whatever Newsom limb to which their string was attached. 

Meanwhile, just outside the room where whatever this was happened, ICE deployed around 100 or so agents to round up illegals on the street. 

Border Patrol is now arresting illegal aliens outside of Gavin Newsom’s press conference about gerrymandering California

This is exactly what I voted for pic.twitter.com/R4Z3K6WOLo

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 14, 2025

We’ll get to what Newsom and others at the “rally” said in a bit. I put “rally” in scare quotes, because it turns out it was really an office meeting more than a rally. The presentation was organized to launch the “Election Rigging Response Act”, an initiative on the ballot this November in a special election to bypass the “Independent” Redistricting Commission, now enshrined in the California Constitution to prevent exactly this kind of partisan political stunt from happening. An ad was debuted at that press conference. 

Trump’s election rigging comes to an end now. California won’t stand by and watch Trump burn it all down — we are calling a special election to redraw our Congressional maps and defend fair representation.

This is a five alarm fire for Democracy. Vote YES November 4. pic.twitter.com/7MQz6LjaG6

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 14, 2025

While one might understandably get distracted by Gavin Newsom making a fire reference, the ad shows this event is a political campaign launch to temporarily skirt the state’s constitution. The call to action in the ad, of course, is problematic in that it is promoting an initiative that doesn’t exist, and in the meantime is raising money for a special election that legally cannot take place unless the state legislature amends the state’s constitution by a 2/3rd majority in both houses. It’s the middle of August, and a legislative proposal has not been written, let alone come before any committee for a mark-up before scheduling a vote. And without it, the state’s constitution forbids the initiative from even being considered by voters. 

Here’s the legal problem with the event itself. It was put together by Newsom’s gubernatorial office staff, and as the highlighted ad demonstrated, the event was a purely political event. When muh democracy isn’t at stake, apparently, there are laws preventing such an egregious use of public funds, personnel, and resources for political campaigns. Like this one in California. 

California Government Code Section 8314 prohibits the misuse of public resources for political purposes. Specifically, it prohibits the use of public resources, including personnel, equipment, and facilities, for campaign or personal purposes.

— Jeff Reisig (@jeffreisig) August 14, 2025

If muh democracy is at stake, as Newsom repeatedly said all day, then the hell with rules, norms, laws, and constitutions. We have to chuck all that democracy stuff in order to save democracy and block that dictator Trump. The big question is, was Newsom dumb enough to use his office staff to launch this political campaign? According to KCRA-3’s Ashley Zavala, NBC’s affiliate in Sacramento, yes. 

California taxpayers appear to be paying for a rally that has been organized and is being streamed with state resources for Gov. Newsom and other Democratic leaders’ redistricting ballot initiative that they’re calling the “Election Rigging Response Act.”

— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) August 14, 2025

Kate Sanchez, a Republican Assemblywoman, has already filed a complaint with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission. Expect more legal action to ensue. 

I’ve filed an official FPPC complaint against Gavin Newsom for using YOUR tax dollars to fund his ballot campaign. This isn’t leadership, it’s a power trip on the public’s dime. Enough is enough. https://t.co/FjBETjvg0z

— Kate Sanchez (@KateSanchezCA) August 14, 2025

The Democrats do enjoy supermajorities in both chambers, so they certainly can ram this through without any regular order, but that seems to be a curious step to take when you’re talking about saving democracy. Oh, I mentioned fundraising. This is a state that currently has a deficit, using its rosiest projection, of $2 billion. If you take away the financial gimmicks like shifting funds from one year to the next in order to not have to show debt in the current year, it’s more in the ballpark of $20-30 billion. California’s overall debt currently? Some estimates, if you include unfunded state worker and teacher pension liabilities, is around $500 billion. No worries, though. Muh democracy, remember? Gavin’s special election stunt to do an end run around the state’s constitution will only cost at least $230 million, and probably more than that to fight legal challenges 

Newsom brushed off the price of a special election. Experts say it’ll cost $200M https://t.co/upnL14gTk3

— The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) August 10, 2025

And once Gavin and his fellow state workers have convinced you to donate to the political cause of countering Texas’ perceive illegality by executing the exact same illegality by voiding the state’s constitution in the process, they will data mine the hell out of you for Gavin’s future presidential bid. 

This entire Redistricting effort is one giant data-sucking operation for Gavin Newsom’s campaign.

How do we know?

This is the website supporting the effort. Look who you’re consenting to receive texts from if you sign up…. pic.twitter.com/gqxsA1jFaz

— Will O’Neill (@RealWillONeill) August 14, 2025

Current polling shows the mythical unicorn initiative, for now, upside down with California voters by a 2-1 margin. I’m meh about the polling, because I know how elections work in this state now. They don’t. With as much ballot-by-mail and ballot harvesting that goes on, the results of the election simply will be held open until April next year if necessary when just enough pro votes magically appear in the mail. You think I’m kidding, but the electoral process in the Golden State is that corrupt. 

Once you get past the sketchiness careening into abject lawlessness when considering the process of Gavin’s big day Thursday, then you can focus on what was actually said, and by whom said it. 

Lorena Gonzales of the AFL-CIO was one of the first speakers, and demonstrated she still doesn’t have her Tourette Syndrome under control.

‼️‼️‼️THE EXPLETIVES @!&%$ ARE FLYING at @GavinNewsom‘s big, boastful election-rigging press conference. California Democrats are showing the entire nation just how classless they really are.

AFL-CIO Chief Lorena Gonzales made Newsom more than a little nervous with her… pic.twitter.com/WY9EeQZ8WI

— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) August 14, 2025

 
Jodi Hicks, the head of Planned Parenthood of California, spoke without even a passing glance at disclosing her conflict of interest. Jennifer Van Laar of RedState knows exactly who she is, and who her husband is. 

WAIT WHAT?! Now we are hearing from the wife of the dude who DREW THE FREAKING MAPS. Jodi Hicks, president of Planned Parenthood CA, is married to Paul Mitchell of Redistricting Partners. He’s been meeting with Rivas and Newsom to gerrymander our current maps. pic.twitter.com/dJE4Zv6EzY

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) August 14, 2025

Speaking of drawing the maps, one of the stacked members of the “Independent” Redistricting Commission is Sara Sadhwani. Her job, according to the state’s Constitution, is to work with her other commissioners to fairly draw the maps. Her idea of fair? Republicans get 18% of the Congressional seats when 40% of the state votes Republican. And to her, that’s not enough. She failed in her task and now wants Gavin to do her job for her. She’ll start thinking about her job as commissioner in five years.  

As for Gavin, he was none too happy about ICE doing their work outside while he and his staff were inside not doing theirs. 

He then promised to restore constitutional order to redistricting, after he’s pillaged the process to purge it of every Republican. 

He then made another fire reference. 

Yes, the governor who brought Californians this image made multiple fire references. 

Every time you see Gavin Newsom crying and whining about Trump and other states, share this video in the replies: pic.twitter.com/tN5BWK28EO

— LEAHmemes (@itsreallyleah) August 14, 2025

This is like the Late Senator Ted Kennedy making a water reference after that unfortunate incident at Chappaquiddick that killed a woman. 

The rally was a continuation of a mini gaggle beforehand, where Newsom called Trump the most corrupt president in history. 

3% GDP. I’ll take that kind of wreckage of the economy every day. 

Finally, this banger.

The founding fathers didn’t live and die to see this moment? The founding fathers who wrote the document went back to Pennsylvania and Virginia, the two most populous states, and started gaming the system to get the most political mileage out of their representation before the ink from their signatures were dry. They began gerrymandering 23 years before the process achieved nomenclature after the Massachusetts governor in 1812. Spare me the founding fathers bit. I’m fairly certain the founding fathers wouldn’t have made North Carolina a sanctuary state and let illegals vote, either.  

Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened Newsom and California Thursday with the big hammer – either suspend the sanctuary state nonsense, or face the withholding of federal funds. 

BREAKING: AG Pam Bondi warns California to end its sanctuary policies or lose federal funding. 🔥

Federal money should NEVER fund illegal sanctuary cities. pic.twitter.com/BRCvvzkehf

— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) August 14, 2025

Count me, even as a Californian, among those who long for that hammer to swing with force as though Thor was holding onto it.