Trump supporters rally at California Capitol, vow fight is not over despite 2024 win
The red presence in deep-blue California remains a political minority, but its growth in the most recent election cycle is enough to attract notice. To unleash meaningful change, supporters of President-elect Donald Trump who gathered Saturday for a rally at the state Capitol said, more people are needed to join their cause.
Country music resounded in the heart of downtown Sacramento as Trump supporters mingled and sipped free hot chocolate on a blustery day. They held signs denouncing vaccine mandates and Gov. Gavin Newsom — “hair gel is toxic to California,” read one waved by an enthusiastic attendee in reference to the state leader’s oft-coiffed hair.
A small assortment called We the People, a collection of “multiple patriot groups,” listened as about a dozen speakers denounced California Democratic politicians, celebrated Trump’s presidential victory and educated the public about patriotism and policy, said Minnie Haha, an event organizer from Calaveras County. She noted attendees are “patriots first and foremost” and are not aligned with any political party, though the event did honor the leader of the Republican Party. Supporters came from as far as Santa Barbara and all across Northern California.
“We’ve got to take back our power,” Haha said, later adding: “Right now, a lot of people are just kind of bamboozled” because “they’re uninformed about what politics is.”
Billed as an inauguration celebration, flyers for the event called for the incoming president to “Newsom-proof California.” The Capitol rally came nine days before Trump, the nation’s 45th president, is formally sworn in again to become its 47th.
Trump flipped several California counties red in 2024 and held off his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris from securing wide margins of the popular vote in her home state, according to news reports.
Roughly 50 attendees flipped through Trump-branded merchandise and got a chance to sign a petition for a “New California State,” which seeks to split off part of California to create a 51st U.S. state. One stand featured a sign reading “American Psycho,” with Newsom’s face dripping in red, a reference to the 2000 film and 1991 novel of the same name.
Speaker Leo Naranjo IV, who said he plans to run for governor in 2026, said the current Republicans serving in the Legislature have put up a good fight “but for the most part have accepted mediocrity as the norm.”
“I am not going up against the Democratic establishment,” he said. “I am going up against the Republican establishment that has entrenched himself in losing, being mediocre and irrelevant.”
He vowed to rid the state of sanctuary state laws, advocate for parental rights and increase adult literacy.
“Gov. Newsom is the greatest successful failure we have had as a governor,” he said.
Several attendees denounced Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, for their response to the devastating wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles County. Still-raging fires have destroyed more than 10,000 structures and killed at least 13 people, local authorities said as of Saturday morning.
“He is grasping at the straws when it comes to this,” said Max Bonilla, from Sacramento County. “Actually, I forgot that they banned straws in this state. And maybe that was more important to them.”
Trump has falsely blamed California’s wildfires on Newsom failing to sign a “water restoration declaration” that the president-elect said would move water from northern parts of the state into Southern California. Newsom’s office has called such claims “pure fiction,” and the governor on Friday posted an open letter inviting Trump to survey the fire damage in person.
Though Trump’s win felt good, said Shasta County Supervisor Kevin Crye, their work can never stop.
Crye himself represents rightward shifts in parts of California after he defeated a recall effort fueled by moderate Republicans. The relative newcomer to politics successfully supported tossing out Dominion Voting System from Shasta County elections and received help from MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, an election denier, in doing so.
“More people need to get energized,” Crye said. “More people need to say ‘What can I do to help?’”
This story was originally published January 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM.