"Right before he's about to send the National Guard and military into LA, all he wants to talk about is his MAGA hat'

[bigtree]

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas interviews California Governor Newsom following his press conference in Los Angeles...

watch:

(excerpts)

BEN: California Governor Gavin Newsom. You held a big press conference today in Los Angeles and you said now is the time where we can end the Trump presidency in his tracks as he's trying to rig this election. Talk about what you announced today and how important itis.

GAVIN: Well, look, I really believe this is the moment that Speaker Jeff is sworn in as Speaker of the House, de facto, Trump's presidency ends. That's 17 months. And all things being equal, playing by the same set of rules, in a system, that is well defined, that's going to happen.

I think Donald Trump understands that. And that's exactly why he called Greg Abbott, telling them he's entitled to five seats because he needs to rig the election before one vote is cast before 2026.

And today uh we push back announcing our campaign to neuter to neutralize what Greg Abbott and Donald Trump are trying to do in Texas and try to stand up for our democracy, stand up for the rule of law and give the people the power to make a decision on November 4th with a special election.


BEN: So then, Donald Trump clearly intimidated by your announcement sends border patrol agents and ICE to patrol outside the venue, intimidate people who are walking in, arrest people. Talk to us about that when you learned about that, what your response to that is, because it looked straight out of an authoritarian regime.


GAVIN: Yeah, I mean, I what more evidence do you need? I mean, I I think maybe he's being counseled by Victor Orban um or any of those guys.

I mean, this is we didn't need to say a word at the press conference. You had two US senators there. You had a half dozen congressional representatives. You had leaders from the faith industry representing the diversity of the state of California. All here.

Where are they? At the democracy center.

Where are they... in Little Tokyo? Where are they? And hollowed ground. the site in the 1940s where the Japanese were bust from this exact location that border patrol and ICE showed up at where they interned American citizens.

What more evidence do you need of the imperative of meeting this moment head on? What more evidence do we need that we need to fight fire with fire at peril? We will lose this democracy.

What more evidence do we need of how weak and pathetic Donald Trump is that he would send these folks at the exact same location and exact same time to intimidate in a sign of weakness masquerading as strength, the people that not only showed up, but those that are speaking up to defend our democracy.


BEN: ....he like pretends that like y'all are cool. He's like, "Hey," and it's such a weird thing to see. Then he goes back, you know, to his safe spaces and calls you out. What do you make of that, though? What's your message to him with that behavior?


GAVIN: Well, it's it's it's reminiscent of the behavior of uh the seventh graders that used to use the same nickname uh on Baltimore Street in Cordadera, California uh that uh were out there trying to bully me. But it was a seventh grader, not a 79year-old.

I mean, it's it's really pathetic. This is a guy -- people look up to the President of United States. I mean, Mr. President, it's time to act like one. Uh, this is real life, not reality TV. And uh and and you got to model better behavior.

Um, but I just I think it's sad and I think it's even worse than you just described. And I'll just give you a specific to that.

Um, when Donald Trump was just, you know, a day before he was to federalize the National Guard here in Los Angeles, he he called me. We talked on a Friday night late at night and all he wanted he wanted to brag about the 'new scum' thing. He said, "It's pretty funny, isn't it?" He goes, "Pretty original."

I said, "Well, it's not original." There was this guy, Maurice, I can't remember his name, but he used to say the same thing.

He goes, "Hey, what about my hats? What do you think? It's pretty good brand, right?" Mega, you know, it's pretty good. I've sold hundreds of thousands.

I mean, I'm like, are you serious? Are we seriously having this conversation when you're supposed to be reading me the riot act about keeping people safe in Los Angeles? You never once talked about the National Guard. You never wanted to talk about what happened in LA.

It's much more alarming than you think. And that's why what is happening in plain sight, you need to see for your own eyes. We've got to pay attention. This guy is unhinged. He's getting weaker and weaker by the day.

You saw that with the new inflation numbers that came out, the wholesale numbers that came out today. You're seeing that with an economy that's slowing down.

You see that with the crony capitalism where he's extracting and nationalizing businesses, socializing, dare I say, some of America's most iconic businesses and doing 15% extractions...

Look what's happening in this country to truth and trust. He's trying to censor historical facts. He's trying to rewrite history in the Smithsonians.

This is one of the great grafts and the great corruption that we've ever seen in US history. Billions of billions of dollars have been fleeced from the American people and our and it's right in front of us.

So, this is a serious moment. It requires seriousness of purpose and it requires us to fight fire with fire and play by a new set of rules. And I know that's hard for Democrats. I know, trust me, I'm one of them. But this is a real moment of peril if we do not stand up.

[ShazzieB]

1. This kind of fighting spirit is exactly what we need right now!

Newsom did not pull ANY punches, and I love it!

[Hekate]

2. TY for this, bigtree. Go, Gov Newsom!

[bigtree]

3. you're welcome, Hekate!

...