CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019 OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“NEWSOM
BECOMES A MAIN FACE OF ANTI-TRUMP ‘RESISTANCE’”
No sooner had Gavin
Newsom taken the oath of office as governor than he made it clear he will not
fear becoming the new face of the national “resistance” to President Trump.
Before Newsom took office,
plenty of other Democrats were fighting Trump’s policies, which aim to reverse
multiple environmental and social policies designed by both Democratic and
Republican presidents of the last 50 years.
In his
own state, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris assiduously set herself up to run for
president with pointed questioning of Trump appointees for many offices. At the
same time, Burbank Congressman Adam Schiff resisted Trump strongly when he was
only the minority leader on the House Intelligence Committee; now he’s the
chairman. And there’s House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, tweaking the
president almost daily.
On the
legal side, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra leads resisters, with
more than four dozen surprisingly successful lawsuits against Trump on subjects
from birth control to immigration and the environment.
But as
governor of the nation’s largest state, Newsom can command more resistance
impact than anyone else in America, far more than he did in his previous job as
lieutenant governor and much more than ex-Gov. Jerry Brown ever cared to exert
on any issue but climate change.
Sensing
Newsom’s potential, Trump early in last year’s campaign started jabbing him via
Twitter, tweeting – among other insults – that Newsom is a “clown.”
But
Trump wasn’t laughing after Newsom’s inaugural speech, where the new governor
never mentioned the president by name, but still lambasted him. In just his
third paragraph, Newsom called Trump’s administration “hostile to California’s
values and interests.” He promised to “ensure a decent standard of living for
all,” something Trump never mentions. Newsom described “powerful forces arrayed
against us,” another Trump reference.
Still
not mentioning Trump, he said “Washington failed on the epochal challenge of
climate change” and declared “kids…shouldn’t be ripped away from their parents
at the border.”
It was
an anti-Trump speech covering almost every front where the president has met
strong opposition and Trump responded quickly.
Taking Newsom’s cue, the
president didn’t mention the governor, whom he last encountered amid the ashes
of Paradise after the Camp Fire last November. But within a day of Newsom’s
swearing in, he threatened to stop Federal Emergency Management Agency money
for fire victims and prevention in California. Days later, detailing which $5
billion he might use to fund the border wall he badly wants, Trump again hit
California. If the president declares a national emergency on the border, his
administration said, about half that money could come from California dam
repair and renewal projects approved by Congress.
It was
likely no accident these threats came just after Newsom’s speech.
But
Newsom showed no signs of being cowed. He quickly tweeted that Trump’s threats
were “partisan bickering…Pres. Trump’s go-to is governing by fear and
division,” then blasted Trump over the border wall and the partial federal
government closure. A few days later, he defied federal
authorities by inviting federal airport security employees going broke in the
federal government shutdown to apply for state unemployment benefits.
Trump
also drew fire for his threats from California Republican politicians in areas
affected by last fall’s big fires. Said Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley of
Rocklin, “FEMA funds must not become bargaining chips in political arguments.”
Republican Assemblyman James Gallagher, who represents the devastated Paradise,
called Trump’s threats “wholly unacceptable.”
But
Trump buddy and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield said
nothing, even though his district includes the fragile Lake Isabella dam that
would not get needed repairs under Trump’s border wall scenario.
Newsom
apparently feels he has little to lose and a lot to gain from Trump threats as
he carves out a more and more visible slot at the head of the resisters. He
could be setting himself up for a possible run of his own for president. But
that can work out only if he also leads successfully and quickly on items like
the potential breakup of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the ongoing Los
Angeles teachers strike.
-30-
Email Thomas Elias
at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most
Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It,"
is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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