ROOKE: Gavin Newsom Crossed The Line, And Now He’s Paying The Price

California Gov. Gavin Newsom accidentally told the truth about the left’s current favorite obsession, and now members from his own party are hanging him out to dry.

Democrats expect party members to walk in lockstep with one another. However, this becomes difficult due to voters’ clear rebuke of the Democrat Party and the battle for who will be the next party leader. The only way to earn back voter support and become a 2028 frontrunner is to break with the far-left wing of the Democrat party.

Incredible where Dems put the most energy: retrieving illegal alien MS-13 members from El Salvador, defending Hamasniks on campus, and forcing girls to play against biological males. No wonder they are stuck at 21%. pic.twitter.com/j3A0M7Tlpc

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 16, 2025

That’s what Newsom did when he made headlines Friday for his comments about the deportation of reported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Newsom told the press that the Democrats’ obsession with Abrego Garcia and their incessant need to pretend he’s not a gang member but a simple “Maryland father” was “the distraction of the day.”

“You know, this is the distraction of the day,” Newsom said. “This is the debate they want. This is their 80-20 issue, as they’ve described it.” (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

“You know, those that believe in the rule of law are defending it. But it’s a tough case, because people are really—are they defending MS-13? Are they defending, you know, someone who’s out of sight, out of mind in El Salvador? . . . It’s exactly the debate [Republicans] want, because they don’t want this debate on the tariffs. They don’t want to be accountable to markets today. . . . They want to have this conversation. Don’t get distracted by distractions. We’re all perfect sheep,” he added.

He’s not wrong in pointing out that the Democrats are focusing on the 20 percent side of an 80/20 issue. Still, Democrats don’t like being told they are the “bad guys,” especially by their own members. Instead of taking the criticism and working to fix the narrative in their favor, they attacked Newsom for correctly calling out their very obvious political blunder.

🚨 Majority of Americans favor deporting illegal aliens. ⬇️

‘Americans are INCREASINGLY saying the country is on the RIGHT track when it comes to [@POTUS‘] immigration policy.’ pic.twitter.com/qcv5QM4wsO

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 22, 2025

The Dem-on-Dem violence controlled the Easter weekend news cycle. Democrat Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who had just traveled to El Salvador to advocate on behalf of Abrego Garcia, joined the choir of Democrats and pundits attacking Newsom, calling the deportation unconstitutional. He even sideswiped Newsom’s bid for Democrat leadership. (ROOKE: Deadly Crack In Left’s Battle Plan Just Burst Wide Open)

“I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind,” Van Hollen said, adding that, “anyone who can’t stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn’t deserve to lead.”

The left-wing rag pretending to be a conservative thinker, The Bulwark, also took a shot at Newsom. The outlet claimed in an op-ed that Democrats like Newsom learned the “wrong lessons” from Trump’s election blowout that gave him an electoral college and popular vote win.

“Last November’s loss to Trump was a shameful low for the Democratic party, but Democrats who think like Newsom are taking all the wrong lessons from it. Their confidence in their ability to win on issues is shot,” they wrote, adding, “refusing to engage on other issues simply because Republicans assert confidently that their position is popular is nothing but cowardice.” (Democrats’ Favorite Gen-Z Blowhard Is Trying To Rip The Party Apart)

It’s pure Beltway logic from The Bulwork here. They are, with a straight face, insisting Democrats continue to fight the deportation of MS-13 gang members, despite voters overwhelmingly confirming their support of Trump’s illegal immigration policy, due to their fantasies that if they just pushed back harder, they could regain voter trust.

It’s insanity. The more Democrats align themselves with gang members over the American people, the less likely they are to win back voters. Instead of realizing this, they attack Newsom for accidentally telling the truth. The lesson here for other Democrats will be: if you step out of the party line on any narrative, you’ll pay the price. For Newsom, that could mean losing his chance to run for the White House.

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