Trump’s investigation of Gov. Newsom is latest federal attack on California | Opinion
President Donald Trump has a longstanding, well-documented distaste for everything California is and stands for. On June 15, the president launched his latest attack on the Golden State when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are under investigation by the Department of Justice.
It is no wonder that the president and his MAGA allies take every opportunity to bash California and make life difficult for its residents and political leaders. California is, after all, one of its most Democratic states. Recent polls register the breadth and depth of Californians’ disapproval of the president’s performance in office. As of June 15, his net approval rating in the Golden State was a measly 26%.
The investigation is part of the president’s effort to tarnish the image and reputation of the state and its public officials. It is also part of Trump’s effort to make the Democratic brand toxic across the country.
The president may not be able to do much to change the hearts and minds of Californians or others who live in the bluest states, but he can try to turn them into symbols of decadence, corruption and out-of-touch wokeism. Trump ally and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz exemplified this effort when he charged that Democrats “want us to be just like California, right down to tofu and silicone and dyed hair.”
Americans should not be fooled: California is not what the president says it is, and Democrats would make a serious mistake if they allowed what he says about the state to go unchallenged.
We all have a stake in standing with California.
And the Golden State has suffered much of Trump’s bashing and political wrath.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term, as wildfires devastated the state, President Donald Trump tweeted that the state had mismanaged its forests, and threatened to cut off federal payments. In addition, in February of this year, as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to punish California, it terminated more than a billion dollars in funding for energy and infrastructure programs.
“These terminations threaten over 200,000 new family-sustaining jobs and undermine programs slated to save nearly $3 billion in health costs per year and improve the health of Americans who have suffered from some of the worst air quality in the nation,” Newsom’s office said at the time.
And just this month, the president accused California of rigging its primary elections:
“The Dumocrats are at it again!” Trump posted to Truth Social. “They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES.”
The president offered no evidence.
We should be prepared to hear such charges again as votes are counted in November, when the results in California may determine who controls the House of Representatives.
It is too early to know what will happen in the investigation of Newsom and his wife. But it is not too early to assess the damage that the president and his administration have inflicted on the residents of this state.
Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College.