California Governor Gavin Newsom says that Donald Trump wants a “Putin election” in 2028 and that Americans “are going to lose our country,” if the sitting president goes unchallenged.
Newsom added that he is “scared to death” about the president’s plans for the midterms and the 2028 presidential election, adding that he believes the United States is at a “code red.”
“We won’t have an election that’s fair and free if we don’t stand up,” he told ABC News, in an interview which will be broadcast this evening, at 8.30 pm ET. “We won’t.
“There will not be a fair and free election. It’ll be a Putin election. Was it 87% or is it 87.3%?
“That’s what Trump wants.”
Newsom, who has clashed with Trump over the deployment of the National Guard into California, also shredded the incumbent president’s record in office.
“All the pardoning, all the, this, this great grift — the biggest, most corrupt administration in history,” Newsom said. “Not just the $400 million plane, but the billion dollars of your tax money, as we’re cutting food stamps to pay for the damn plane so he can take that toy home with his foundation when he’s 93 or whatever he’s done with his fourth or fifth term.”
The California Governor is a frontrunner to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency. He is known for his combative political style, which has led to propose the Election Rigging Response Act.
If passed, the bill will redraw California’s districting lines. Newsom backed the bill after Republicans threatened to gerrymander their own states to increase their hold on Congress.
During his conversation with ABC News, he added that a “supine Congress,” “universities selling their souls,” and the “private sector” are allowing Trump’s administration to get away with its controversial policies.
“I’m afraid we’re going to lose our country,” he said. “And where the hell is everybody? Why aren’t we standing up to principle?”
Governor Newsom has long been thought to be gearing up for a bid to win the Democratic nomination. During his ABC interview, he praised President Joe Biden as “one of the most successful presidents in the last century,” but said that he would differ from the former Democratic leader on border policy.
Many immigrants heading to America enter the country via California’s border with Mexico, an issue on which Newsom has called for reform. On Tuesday, he incensed his MAGA nemeses by hiring Michele Beckwith, a U.S. attorney fired by Trump for telling his administration to abide by the constitution on border issues.
A bombshell poll revealed that Newsom is in second place in the race to clinch the Democratic nomination for the presidency. The survey found that 15 percent of participants backed the California governor, while Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary, led with 19 percent.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated in the 2024 election, came in at 11 percent. She trailed New York firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was backed by 14 percent of the participants.
On the other side of the political aisle, the poll found that 51 percent of respondents would back J.D. Vance.
Nikki Haley, who battled Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024, won just 9 percent of voters’ backing in the recent University of New Hampshire poll.
Tulsi Gabbard, the controversial Director of National Intelligence, came in third with 8 percent of voters’ support.
