The Anti-American Riots In LA Are Gavin Newsom’s Legacy

Gov. Gavin Newsom. D-Calif., is blaming President Trump for the violence that erupted in Los Angeles this weekend while simultaneously attempting to stop the president from restoring order. This should come as no surprise — Newsom’s legacy is one of complicity in the “mess” his state has become.

Newsom is rumored to be posturing for a 2028 presidential bid despite his repeated denials, but his track record shows he is unfit to run a state, let alone the country.

California became a sanctuary state in 2018, while Newsom was the lieutenant governor. Since he became governor in 2019, illegal immigration has increased exponentially. In May, the United States Attorney’s Office launched Operation Guardian Angel to “neutralize” California’s sanctuary state policy by issuing federal warrants for illegal aliens committing crimes beyond that of unlawfully residing in the U.S. On Friday, ICE made more than 100 arrests in LA as part of a high-level investigation into money-laundering, tax evasion, and customs fraud, according to Border Czar Tom Homan. Assuming it was an immigration enforcement raid, the city responded with riots. The LAPD has failed to contain the violence as rioters attack law enforcement, set cars on fire, and block roads. Now, businesses are reporting looting.

Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to LA on Sunday to contain the violence, and an additional 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines today. Newsom filed a lawsuit, calling Trump’s takeover of the California National Guard illegal, and demanded Trump rescind the order. “It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism,” he said. He also filed an emergency motion to block the order.

This should come as no surprise considering the state’s lackadaisical response to the George Floyd riots in 2020 when Highway 101 was temporarily blocked, Los Angeles burned for a week, and numerous businesses were looted by mostly peaceful protestors. Mayor Eric Garcetti requested that Newsom send in the National Guard to quell the violence, which Newsom did. But at the same time, he blamed the unrest on “institutions” calling for “more empathy” as the riots raged.

Earlier this year, Newsom faced scrutiny for his mismanagement of the Los Angeles wildfires, which were worsened by his mismanagement of water before and during the fire, and by large fire department funding cuts made by LA Mayor Karen Bass. DEI-related staffing issues in the LA Fire Department resulted in underpaid firefighters and a force spread too thin to handle the scale of the fires.

In an attempt to rebrand, Newsom started a podcast called This is Gavin Newsom in February and has since interviewed several conservative guests, including Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon. In his discussion with Kirk, Newsom called men competing in women’s sports “deeply unfair,” but refused to intervene when a California school district illegally allowed a boy to compete in girls’ track events.

Whether from kowtowing to race reparations, mismanaging resources, promoting DEI, or inviting a flood of illegal immigrants into his state, California will continue to reap the whirlwind for Newsom’s poor leadership. Despite his peace-making posturing, Newsom is up to his same old scum: permitting violent demonstrations to continue while he blames Trump and assures X that “violent criminals who take advantage of Trump’s chaos WILL be held accountable.”

The violent criminals are the cause of the chaos. They’re the reason President Trump got involved. Come 2028, let it be known that Newsom is not fit to be President of the United States. His legacy is California’s lawlessness.

Jacqueline Annis-Levings is a correspondent for the Federalist. She is a rising junior at Patrick Henry College, where she is majoring in English.