Speaker 1: This is Gavin Newsom.
Speaker 2: Welcome everybody. Sorry we're a little late getting started. It's
Speaker 2: been quite a day for the governor, and thank you
Speaker 2: Governor Newsom for joining us today.
Speaker 1: Great to be with you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, It's been quite a day for you. I
Speaker 2: wanted to talk today about what you just said in
Speaker 2: California and how you said it, and the implications in
Speaker 2: the short term for it, but also the long term
Speaker 2: implications for American democracy. It was a big day for you.
Speaker 2: Do you want to start by telling the audience here
Speaker 2: who may not have heard your press conference or may
Speaker 2: not have heard your uh or read about it yet,
Speaker 2: what you have said today in California, Well.
Speaker 1: If I and I appreciate it. I want to say
Speaker 1: where I'm saying it. I'm in little Tokyo. I'm at
Speaker 1: the Democracy Center. I'm at the center of what occurred
Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties where people were quite literally picked
Speaker 1: up right behind me a few feet away Japanese and interned.
Speaker 1: As we started our press conference with senators United States senators,
Speaker 1: but shift members of Congress, community leaders, everybody assembled, border
Speaker 1: patrol was set right here to the exact site where
Speaker 1: people were picked up and interned in the nineteen forties.
Speaker 1: I just hope people pause and think about that, that
Speaker 1: they were directed clearly by the White House as a
Speaker 1: political operation to make a point, and that means we
Speaker 1: didn't have to make other much of a point ourselves
Speaker 1: about what this election is all about, and what's happening
Speaker 1: in this country and this sort of shift towards more authoritarianism,
Speaker 1: and what's at stake with redistricting and what's at stake
Speaker 1: with our democracy, and how the founding fathers would be
Speaker 1: rolling over in their grave.
Speaker 2: Well, let's step back a bit, because you said when
Speaker 2: it happened that they were making a specific point and
Speaker 2: it wasn't just about picking people up. It was about
Speaker 2: the upcoming twenty twenty six and then twenty twenty eight election.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Look, there's no doubt in my mind that And
Speaker 1: I said this a few months ago when we saw
Speaker 1: four thousand of our National Guard federalized. We saw seven
Speaker 1: hundred United States Marines sent to an American city, the
Speaker 1: first time Donald Trump ever deployed the US military. Never
Speaker 1: did it overseas, did it in the United States of
Speaker 1: America into Los Angeles. I said, this is a preview
Speaker 1: of things to come. I don't know what more evidence
Speaker 1: we need than what happened in Washington, DC. And you're
Speaker 1: going to see this all across the United States. What
Speaker 1: we saw just a moment ago with border patrol is
Speaker 1: a preview things to come at voting booths and polling
Speaker 1: places all across this country. These guys aren't screwing around.
Speaker 1: Wake up. Donald Trump is not screwing around. He called
Speaker 1: Greg Abbott. He said he was entitled to five seats.
Speaker 1: He's trying to rig the next election in the midterms.
Speaker 1: There's a reason members of the Trump team sent me
Speaker 1: a Trump twenty twenty eight hat with a note, is
Speaker 1: there not screwing around and we could no longer screw
Speaker 1: around either.
Speaker 2: So you spoke today specifically in response to the demand
Speaker 2: of President Donald Trump of the Texas legislators to redistrict
Speaker 2: the state in the middle of a cycle which we
Speaker 2: is usually every ten years because the US Census demand.
Speaker 2: The US Constitution demands that we do a census every
Speaker 2: ten years for redistricting, and Texas has done this before
Speaker 2: in twenty thousand and three. But they are looking to
Speaker 2: read district Texas to get rid of a number of
Speaker 2: Democratic representatives and replace some of the Republicans five. So
Speaker 2: today in California, you pushed back with a very specific plan.
Speaker 2: Could you outline that plan for us? Even though the
Speaker 2: maps have not come out yet, we understand.
Speaker 1: Well, we're fighting fire with fire. We're responding to what
Speaker 1: appears to be happening in real time in Texas. And
Speaker 1: rather than having one hand tied behind our back in California,
Speaker 1: we are asking the people of the state of California
Speaker 1: in a special election on November fourth, through their representatives,
Speaker 1: two thirds of which will on Monday, introduce a constitutional
Speaker 1: amendment to allow the independent Redistrict of California to occur
Speaker 1: mid decade to fight firefire the equivalent of five seats
Speaker 1: to neoter and neutralize what's happening in Texas on a
Speaker 1: temporary basis. We'll do it in a transparent way by
Speaker 1: putting the maps up and make them available for public review,
Speaker 1: and we'll do it in the most democratic way. The
Speaker 1: people will ultimately decide start contrast to what's happening in Texas.
Speaker 1: It's triggered only if Texas moves forward, if Missouri moves forward,
Speaker 1: if Florida moves forward, if Indiana or Ohio or any
Speaker 1: of these other states move forward in response to what
Speaker 1: appears pretty clearly to be the rigging of the midterm election,
Speaker 1: analogous to what happened after January sixth, when Donald Trump
Speaker 1: started dialing for votes and the very infamous phone calls
Speaker 1: he made to the Secretary of State in Georgia.
Speaker 2: So I want to get back in a bit to
Speaker 2: the idea that this is a long term plan of
Speaker 2: the mega Republicans to take over the American system entirely
Speaker 2: so that the Democrats can never win, so we essentially
Speaker 2: get a one party state. But let's go back, first
Speaker 2: of all to this specific plan, because there's some pieces
Speaker 2: of it that I think are important for people to understand.
Speaker 2: The first, as you say, is that it is reactionary.
Speaker 2: It would only go into effect if the Texas Republicans
Speaker 2: go forward with their own redistricting plan and in the
Speaker 2: mid in the mid cycle.
Speaker 1: Is that correct. That's it. There's an exit ramp. They
Speaker 1: don't move forward, we don't move forward. This is not
Speaker 1: the fight we want. But we're not going to sit
Speaker 1: back again and roll over. We're not going to sit
Speaker 1: back with one hand tie behind our back, have a
Speaker 1: candlelighted visual hold hands. Talk about the way the world
Speaker 1: should be not when we're seeing this level of recklessness,
Speaker 1: this level of insidiousness as it relates to democratic institutions,
Speaker 1: democratic norms, and the rigging of the twenty twenty six
Speaker 1: congressional maps.
Speaker 2: All right, So if that's the immediate piece of it,
Speaker 2: there is within it, as I understand it, and I
Speaker 2: have not yet read the measure, there is within it
Speaker 2: a demand for a national nonpartisan Can you talk about that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, just so people understand, and I want a
Speaker 1: level set with folks. Good people can disagree on this.
Speaker 1: I support and have supported independent redistricting. I believe it's
Speaker 1: the right approach. I'm really proud of my party, the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party, for doing the same. Zoe Logrant Lawford, who's
Speaker 1: the head of the California Congressional delegation, sponsored legislation was
Speaker 1: supported by all the Democrats to create a national independent redistricting.
Speaker 1: No Republicans supported. Democrats supported that. That's what we believe,
Speaker 1: it's the right thing to do. We need to move
Speaker 1: beyond these partisan GERI matter districts where we pick voters
Speaker 1: as opposed to voters picking us. But in the absence
Speaker 1: of that happening nationwide, in the absence of these of
Speaker 1: fairness being advanced in other states. We have to act
Speaker 1: anew in the sort of language of Lincoln himself in
Speaker 1: his second State of the Union, we have to disenthrall ourselves.
Speaker 1: Facts are new, we have to think a new and
Speaker 1: we have to act anew And I think the key
Speaker 1: here is act. It's not good enough to talk about.
Speaker 1: We have to actually move forward. We have to meet
Speaker 1: this head on. And that's why we say fire with fire.
Speaker 1: It is about power, it's not about party. That's all
Speaker 1: this is about. But again it came about in response.
Speaker 1: If they don't move, we don't move. The legislature on
Speaker 1: Monday will introduce a number of bills, a constitutional amendment,
Speaker 1: They will introduce the maps. The fact that maps will
Speaker 1: come out I think as early as tomorrow, so people
Speaker 1: have a chance to see them again. They'll be on
Speaker 1: people's ballot, and so ultimately people decide on November fourth.
Speaker 1: It's an election that coincides with a lot of municipal elections,
Speaker 1: and we will fund those elections, the special election at
Speaker 1: the local level, so that there's access and opportunity. We're
Speaker 1: going to do it in the most transparent way that's
Speaker 1: ever been done here. In the state of California. But
Speaker 1: we fundamentally believe and the voters will have a chance
Speaker 1: to concur that we should have independent, nationalized redistricting. That
Speaker 1: is going to be on our ballot as well.
Speaker 2: All right, So what would you say to institutionalists like
Speaker 2: me who say that, in fact, we need to support
Speaker 2: American institutions even when other people are not supporting them,
Speaker 2: because by walking away from them we destroy the project.
Speaker 1: Well, I think this project is being destroyed. I mean
Speaker 1: the best of the Roman Republic and Greek democracy and
Speaker 1: coequal branches of government, a system of checks and balances,
Speaker 1: popular sovereignty. It's all on the line. There's no independent redistricting.
Speaker 1: If Trump is successful in wiring the five votes that
Speaker 1: he claims he's entitled to, or the five seats in
Speaker 1: Texas and all of these other states, He's not going
Speaker 1: to stop in Texas. You see what he just tried
Speaker 1: to do to one of the great research institutions in
Speaker 1: the world that helped create the Internet, UCLA and the
Speaker 1: one bigion dollar extortion backage. They're selling their souls. God
Speaker 1: help us, God help us. They'll do this at Harvard institutions.
Speaker 1: My gosh, institutions how about free enterprise, How about what
Speaker 1: Nvidia just did. Institutions they're frame, they're cracking, So we
Speaker 1: have got to this is about power, yes, but it's
Speaker 1: also about power pushing back against Trump, and it's also
Speaker 1: about power to call out this rigged election that he's
Speaker 1: tried to advance and to try to provide a level
Speaker 1: playing field. That's all we're trying to do. Neutralize what
Speaker 1: they're doing in texts.
Speaker 2: Well, you certainly could make the argument that what you
Speaker 2: are doing is quite intelligently looking at the nation as
Speaker 2: a whole, in California as a piece of that. So
Speaker 2: by protecting the larger institutional system of the checks and
Speaker 2: balances in the country and stopping this extraordinary power grab,
Speaker 2: that in fact you are supporting those institutions, not undercutting them.
Speaker 2: Do you think that's fair.
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: you know, this is about all of us. This is
Speaker 1: about the United States of America. The implications everyone listening,
Speaker 1: The implications are well beyond California. And this is about representation.
Speaker 1: It's about this fundamental and foundational as it gets. And again,
Speaker 1: this is the core, enduring experiment that we've enjoyed but
Speaker 1: can no longer take for granted for two hundred and
Speaker 1: forty nine years. I mean the idea that that Donald
Speaker 1: Trump he's going to represent this nation on the two
Speaker 1: hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and he's up to this.
Speaker 2: I mean, we're going to represent the American people, are
Speaker 2: going to resent represent the country at the two hundred
Speaker 2: and fiftieth.
Speaker 1: God bless you. And that reminds me of Justicegen's dissent
Speaker 1: and not dissimilar redistricting issues where the power of the
Speaker 1: government is endowed by the people. I'm here at the
Speaker 1: Democracy Center and other in that spirit, I remember Justice
Speaker 1: BRANDI said, in a democracy, the most important office is
Speaker 1: not office of presidents or they not governor, city council, mayor.
Speaker 1: The most important office is office of citizen. And it's
Speaker 1: about active, non inert citizenship. And so this notion of
Speaker 1: we the people is foundational and I appreciate that spirit,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate your reflection of that. Well.
Speaker 2: You mentioned that in your speech today. You talked about
Speaker 2: agency and about how part of what you're doing is
Speaker 2: trying to remind Americans that they do have agency over
Speaker 2: their government. Was that a deliberate call for this speech?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know what's happened. I feel like some
Speaker 1: of us have we become victims in so many respects.
Speaker 1: We forget we're not bystanders in the world, that the
Speaker 1: future is not just something experience, it's something to manifest.
Speaker 1: It's right here, it's right inside of us. It is
Speaker 1: it's decisions, not conditions. I don't, you know, And maybe
Speaker 1: I'm maybe After the pandemic, I started reading a little
Speaker 1: more Epoptetis and Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and spend a
Speaker 1: little time with the Stoics a little bit. But it's
Speaker 1: a reminder it's not what happens to us. It's how
Speaker 1: we respond to what happens to us that matters. And
Speaker 1: we have agency, that's what citizens. He can't take that
Speaker 1: away from us. He can't. He's trying. He can only
Speaker 1: take it away if we allow him to take it
Speaker 1: away from us. And I'm very mindful that that's happened
Speaker 1: in other countries around the world and other points of
Speaker 1: our history. With the consent, there's a complicity we are
Speaker 1: not bystanderds Well.
Speaker 2: One of the things that jumped out to me about
Speaker 2: this declaration of the Governor of California that he would
Speaker 2: use the power, the extraordinary power of the state of California, which,
Speaker 2: as you say, has the population of twenty one of
Speaker 2: the smaller states and the fourth largest economy in the world.
Speaker 2: Congratulations on that, by the way, that came earlier this year,
Speaker 2: you moved from fifth to fourth. But what really interested
Speaker 2: me about that in terms of the way we think
Speaker 2: about American democracy in the larger picture, is I believe
Speaker 2: this is the first time in American history where a
Speaker 2: state has called for other states to pressure the national
Speaker 2: government to change the system for larger inclusion in democracy.
Speaker 2: And what I mean by that is that generally after
Speaker 2: World War II, that liberals who wanted the government to
Speaker 2: regulate business and provide a basic social safety net and
Speaker 2: protect civil rights and invest in infrastructure look to the
Speaker 2: federal government to move states along those lines, especially states
Speaker 2: that had tended to discriminate against their populations. And so
Speaker 2: there's been a tendency for people who cared about those issues.
Speaker 2: And that's not just by the way, in the nineteen
Speaker 2: fifties and sixties and seventies, a democratic proposition, but an
Speaker 2: American proposition to look to the federal government. But I
Speaker 2: believe this is the first time that a state has
Speaker 2: said we will leverage our very strong power to force
Speaker 2: the federal government to stop destroying our democracy. I think
Speaker 2: it's a really big moment what you have just declared.
Speaker 2: Did you see it that way?
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, it's interesting as you're framing it, I'm starting
Speaker 1: to see it that way. Look, I've seen and Ron
Speaker 1: Brown seeing and others have been writing a lot about this,
Speaker 1: this great divergence that's occurred in this country in the
Speaker 1: last I don't know decade or so red versus blue.
Speaker 1: We've seen, as you describe it, you know, from sort
Speaker 1: of post World War two frame this right's expansion, this
Speaker 1: increasing and growing nationalization of rights, and now we're seeing
Speaker 1: that regression state by state. I started to see it
Speaker 1: a number of years ago in a deeper way, when
Speaker 1: I started to reconcile the fact that I'm on the
Speaker 1: receiving end of CRTDI E. S G. Anything with three letters.
Speaker 1: They've seen it started a shape shift, and we start
Speaker 1: to see that with Ron DeSantis in particular, Abbott in
Speaker 1: many respects without as much fanfare, starting to sort of
Speaker 1: rewrite history, sensor historic facts, more evidence we need. With
Speaker 1: Smithsonian and what's going on there. And I started to
Speaker 1: see it as it relates to curriculum being changed. I
Speaker 1: saw it with books that are being bannedly or books
Speaker 1: even worse that are being changed, like social studies books
Speaker 1: where they're taking the race of Rosa Parks out of
Speaker 1: the book because it's a quote unquote two woke as
Speaker 1: it relates to the history of the civil rights movement.
Speaker 1: And so this this this this nationalization of rights that
Speaker 1: now seems to be moving backwards to pre nineteen sixties
Speaker 1: construct It just occurs to me now to the extent possible,
Speaker 1: states can assert themselves, like California, states that might just
Speaker 1: be able to punch a little bit above their weight
Speaker 1: that that we can lay a little bit more claim
Speaker 1: to recognizing this moment in history and pushed back and
Speaker 1: move back, I think to our better angels where we
Speaker 1: truly are, as Adam Schiff said today, you know sort
Speaker 1: of marking that that that that that sort of infamous
Speaker 1: MLK frame that you know that that arc of history
Speaker 1: ultimately been towards just and I just feel like it's
Speaker 1: getting increasingly out of our grasp and we've got to
Speaker 1: pull that arc back down.
Speaker 2: Well, you did something else very interesting though in your
Speaker 2: speech that speaks to that, and that is that really
Speaker 2: since well, at least for the last twenty years, and
Speaker 2: I would push it back for twenty before that. There's
Speaker 2: been a tendency among the rhetoric of the radical right
Speaker 2: to demonize democratic states, especially California and New York, but
Speaker 2: especially California. And you actually took on Texas today, and
Speaker 2: you also spoke up very powerfully about having pride in
Speaker 2: the things that make texts that make California great. That too,
Speaker 2: I thought was an important rhetorical shift.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. I looked around the room as people
Speaker 1: are cheering. It's the most diverse crowd and the most
Speaker 1: diverse city, the world's most diverse democracy. It's the point
Speaker 1: of pride. It's all at stake. We don't say it enough.
Speaker 1: You know. Why is California the fourth largest economa. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you recognizing that it's not despite that diversity, it's
Speaker 1: because of it. We get first round draft choices. Around
Speaker 1: the rest of the world. The best, in the brightest
Speaker 1: come to California. States like California, other large states across
Speaker 1: this country because they see, they feel seen and heard,
Speaker 1: they feel sense of belonging. That's what makes this country great.
Speaker 1: That's what's made America great. Lady torch, you know, the
Speaker 1: Lady Liberty's torch, you know, the life force as Reagan said, yes,
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan himself, of New Americans. That's our greatness. And
Speaker 1: all of that is at risk. That's what the Border
Speaker 1: Patrol was sitting there trying to disabuse us of. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna We're not gonna let Donald Trump wreck that,
Speaker 1: and I'm not you know, there's I'll acknowledge each other.
Speaker 1: There is. There's definitely I submit Trump to arrangement syndrome,
Speaker 1: but they're sure as hell is California derangement syndrome. We
Speaker 1: have more scientists, engineers, more researchers won't know about laureates
Speaker 1: than any other state in America. Just think about the
Speaker 1: UC system that he's attacking. Thirteen thou eight hundred active patents.
Speaker 1: There's no other universites on planet Earth with more patents.
Speaker 1: You care about national security, you care about economic progress,
Speaker 1: You care about innovation and entrepreneurialism. You care about dominating
Speaker 1: the next century and globally and otherwise, you sure as
Speaker 1: hell better care about those institutions. All of those are
Speaker 1: at risk with the rule of don Well, I hope
Speaker 1: it's dawning on people what's at stake.
Speaker 2: Well, the contrast of ice being there, as you said that,
Speaker 2: because of course economists one thousand percent bear out exactly
Speaker 2: what you just said here was a striking moment. It
Speaker 2: was also, I thought, a very striking moment that Trump
Speaker 2: and the MAGA Republicans especially I'm thinking of somebody like
Speaker 2: Stephen Miller right now, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff,
Speaker 2: have made it a point really to talk about how
Speaker 2: terrible America is, that it's American carnage, that there's you
Speaker 2: know who is it. The Senator from Oklahoma today, Mark
Speaker 2: Wayne Mullins said he drives around Washington without a seat
Speaker 2: out because he's afraid he's going to get carjact. I'm like, dude,
Speaker 2: come on, like really, you know, it's been.
Speaker 1: A lot of time in the carj act in his
Speaker 1: state than he is in these blue states. I remind
Speaker 1: everyone watching eight of the top ten murder states in
Speaker 1: America are red states. You've got you talk about speaker.
Speaker 1: We didn't talk about the speaker of the Als Johnson.
Speaker 1: His district has six or eight times more murder rate
Speaker 1: per cabit in than Nancy Pelosi's why the hell isn't
Speaker 1: Trump sending the National Guard in to deal with the
Speaker 1: carnage in Speaker Johnson's backyard. It's all bs, it's all performative,
Speaker 1: but it's all very real. And that's why we need
Speaker 1: to sober up. We need to act differently. It's time
Speaker 1: we have to get back on the offense. It's time
Speaker 1: we shape shift the conversation, time we dominate and flood
Speaker 1: the zone on the narrative. And it's time we call
Speaker 1: out the bullshit. She's my language. I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of it. A lot of us are swearing a
Speaker 1: lot more that we used to, and I forgive me,
Speaker 1: but the reality is we're in a new reality and
Speaker 1: our Democrats, and I think the biggest problem with our
Speaker 1: party right now is the sense that we're weak. That
Speaker 1: were we and it's time to disabuse people of that.
Speaker 1: We have power. We need to start exercising it.
Speaker 2: Okay, you said a bunch of things there that I
Speaker 2: think are really important agency offense and defense of the
Speaker 2: qualities that have always made America great. And you referenced
Speaker 2: Ronald Reagan there the last public speech he Gave talked
Speaker 2: about how important immigration was to making America stay on
Speaker 2: the top of its game, constantly innovating, constantly being the
Speaker 2: best in the world because we welcome new people, and
Speaker 2: that he said, if we stopped that, we would cease
Speaker 2: to be America, we would cease to be the country
Speaker 2: we were. And I think we're seeing that.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, it's we've had a formula for success
Speaker 1: in this country and and and I mean for everybody
Speaker 1: we've been there, we've got for all the challenges and
Speaker 1: we have we have we have. It goes without saying
Speaker 1: we have all these pre existing conditions. But we have
Speaker 1: been the envy of the world. And these guys are
Speaker 1: trying to wreck it. They're trying to wreck it, and
Speaker 1: they don't know what the hell they're doing. Trump doesn't
Speaker 1: know what the hell he's doing. And you have all
Speaker 1: of these people that are complicit and they're shaking their head. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1: In the worst part, Heather, it's some of the wealthiest
Speaker 1: and most connected people that are selling out. That's why
Speaker 1: if Harvard does this, they will sell out higher education
Speaker 1: in this country. It is a shame, it would be
Speaker 1: a disgrace. You have some of the wealthiest business leaders
Speaker 1: selling out allowing their companies to be nationalized socialized there,
Speaker 1: I say, we cannot allow that to happen. People are scared.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. We have some people that want
Speaker 1: to contribute this campaign. They're scared of the retribution from
Speaker 1: the son of a bitch. I mean, now, this is
Speaker 1: how bad it is.
Speaker 2: Let me just explain for people and may not have
Speaker 2: been following it, that, in fact, the Trump administration has
Speaker 2: been exercising really quite unusual control over government mergers. For example,
Speaker 2: they've been requiring fifteen percent kickbacks on the sale of
Speaker 2: certain kinds of chips to China and so on, and
Speaker 2: there is a real concern that this is a form
Speaker 2: of state capitalism that looks a lot more more like
Speaker 2: China than it looks like our free labor system. But
Speaker 2: while we're on that topic, though, Governor, what about your
Speaker 2: new I think you have a very new approach to
Speaker 2: how you were taking on the Trump administration. And I
Speaker 2: know that I've been reprinting you, and certainly a lot
Speaker 2: of people have been retweeting you. Why did you make
Speaker 2: the decision to do what you're doing? Can you explain
Speaker 2: it to us and say, if you know where you
Speaker 2: think it fits in this fight that we are on
Speaker 2: to protect American democracy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I I have we all have a cell
Speaker 1: by date, and I'm not going to dream of regretting.
Speaker 1: I'm putting out all the putting all out on the line,
Speaker 1: and I'm just I'm I I've never been more concerned
Speaker 1: about this country and for them, out of the world
Speaker 1: that we're living in. And I'm I recognize the power
Speaker 1: of communication. I realize the power of the narrative. We
Speaker 1: talked about a moment ago at least I asserted the
Speaker 1: imperative of claiming the narrative. And and I'm just iterating.
Speaker 1: I'm constantly iterating. So I got a podcast. I'm just
Speaker 1: trying new things, and I'm there's humility in that, there's grace.
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to see what works. And I, you know,
Speaker 1: decided a few days ago with the team to mimic
Speaker 1: a little bit of the childishness that is Donald Trump
Speaker 1: and what he puts out on truth social at all
Speaker 1: cats exclamation, exclamation, And you know, I don't know, some
Speaker 1: refer to as a parody of sorts, but it's been
Speaker 1: a potent communication tool because people are now talking about it.
Speaker 1: I'm getting people that never reach out to me, that
Speaker 1: don't care much about politics, can't stand politicians. I just
Speaker 1: want to talk to me about sports or culture, saying hey, wait,
Speaker 1: I saw your tweet. Kind of like that, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, they're paying a little bit more attention, and
Speaker 1: they're maybe paying attention to the childish nish that is
Speaker 1: Donald Trump, that we've allowed him to normalize the way
Speaker 1: he communicates, talking down to us, talking past us, and
Speaker 1: so yeah, we're iterating, we're trying new things. I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to claim anything except a willingness to try, a
Speaker 1: willingness to learn again. As I said, the humility and
Speaker 1: grace of the moment that it recorders.
Speaker 2: Do you want to tell this audience what you said
Speaker 2: in response to a question about it at your press
Speaker 2: conference after the speech.
Speaker 1: No, I mean I just I basically reinforced a little
Speaker 1: bit more succinctly what I just said. Look, how it's pathetic.
Speaker 1: He's the president of the United States, the president of
Speaker 1: the United States of America, and he's sitting there at
Speaker 1: one to two in the morning with all caps and
Speaker 1: it just anyway, I don't know, I don't know how
Speaker 1: many more I'll have of those tweets. But if you
Speaker 1: haven't checked out some of my tweets go online, you
Speaker 1: may enjoy a few.
Speaker 2: I believe you said. If you have a problem with
Speaker 2: my tweets, you sure should have a problem with the
Speaker 2: President of the United States making those tweets exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean, I got kids, and I got how do
Speaker 1: we have a whole generation of people who thinks this
Speaker 1: is normal. It's not and it can't be normalized. And
Speaker 1: that's a big part of what we're also pushing back against.
Speaker 1: Pay attention everybody, please, please, please please pay attention to
Speaker 1: what's going on.
Speaker 2: So I have just two very quick questions for you.
Speaker 2: One is, I'm not going to ask you how you
Speaker 2: think Trump will respond, because we don't know. That's one
Speaker 2: of the reasons we sort of have to take it
Speaker 2: on a moment by moment basis. But do you have
Speaker 2: a series of plans in place depending on how he
Speaker 2: responds to this, because he will. That was a red
Speaker 2: flag to a bull.
Speaker 1: Boy, he responded today. Border patrol was out there for
Speaker 1: a reason. That wasn't done, that wasn't abitstance. That's that's
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a that's an orbon you know Turkey Playbook.
Speaker 1: I mean that was just you know, that was a yeah,
Speaker 1: that's as I said, weakness masquerading his strength. But again
Speaker 1: it was a masterclass of making our point, not his point.
Speaker 1: He made no point. He made our point of what's
Speaker 1: at stake. So that's how I react. He's reacted by
Speaker 1: saying I should be arrested. Onder what basis he said, Well,
Speaker 1: because he was elected govenant. I mean, you can't make
Speaker 1: this stuff up. So look, I'm not naive. He's reacting.
Speaker 1: He's trying to wreck California. He's you know, he's trying
Speaker 1: to wreck the only high speed rail system in the
Speaker 1: Western hemisphere. He's trying to go after US as relates
Speaker 1: to the institutions of higher learning, any independent any place
Speaker 1: that cultivates independent thinking. Donald Trump is going after any
Speaker 1: institut tuition that cultivates independent thinking. And that should sober
Speaker 1: everyone up, not just Californian, not just Californians, not just
Speaker 1: elected officials. I'm fine. The fifteen year old that had
Speaker 1: a gun pulled to his head, who's disabled trying to
Speaker 1: go to school last week, He's not the rest of
Speaker 1: his life. He's going to have that image of a
Speaker 1: gun that was put to his head by Ice agents.
Speaker 1: So that's what the hell do we need to sober up?
Speaker 2: So that's my fine. That is my final question for you.
Speaker 2: You talked about agency, you've talked about new things in
Speaker 2: new ways to approach the protection of democracy. You've talked
Speaker 2: about what you are doing. What should the American people
Speaker 2: be doing to support the democratic project right now? Because
Speaker 2: everybody wants to do something. The popularity of this administration,
Speaker 2: you know, is in the toilet. The people who support
Speaker 2: Project twenty twenty four, about four percent of Americans support
Speaker 2: it when they know what it is. What should people
Speaker 2: be doing to support the protection of American democracy?
Speaker 1: It's the right question. And I think about this all
Speaker 1: the time. I get this question all the time. What
Speaker 1: he's trying to do, the shock and awe is trying
Speaker 1: to just just weigh us down, try to distract us,
Speaker 1: try to exhaust us. We're just overwhelmed, and as a consequence,
Speaker 1: we just sort of stand back and step down and
Speaker 1: just get lost and you know online and doom scrawling, etc.
Speaker 1: We can't allow him to allow us to fall prey
Speaker 1: to cynicism and fear. And I want everyone listening to
Speaker 1: know they're the antidote to that cynicism and fear. The
Speaker 1: fact that you're even watching this, if you are, even
Speaker 1: if you came here because you can't stand me, you're
Speaker 1: the antidote to that cynicism. Fair You haven't given up,
Speaker 1: You haven't given it, And I think the answer is
Speaker 1: not complicated. Just be yourself, say what you think, learn
Speaker 1: from don't follow others, express yourself, do so in a
Speaker 1: responsible way. Don't talk past people, don't talk down to people.
Speaker 1: All of us want to be loved. All of us
Speaker 1: need to be loved. We all want to be protected,
Speaker 1: connected and respected. Have that in your heart, but be
Speaker 1: accountable by exercising your voice. Show up. It inspires people.
Speaker 1: And that No King's Day you inspired me. I wasn't
Speaker 1: sure that that was going the big two hundred and
Speaker 1: fiftieth anniversary, big birthday bash. I honestly didn't know I
Speaker 1: was going to go, like I'm starting to feel it.
Speaker 1: If I'm feeling it and I have this bullypole with
Speaker 1: this gift, I can imagine how many people are feeling.
Speaker 1: But you showed up, and I mean you put wind
Speaker 1: in my sale. I mean, like, thank you for having
Speaker 1: our back. The fact that we've even gotten this far
Speaker 1: with the legislature and with our Congression. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is amazing. Thank you, Thank you for not giving up.
Speaker 1: Keep at it seriously, like proud, just as a guy
Speaker 1: who's the ex governor of California, the guy who's trying
Speaker 1: to raise four kids used to be decent people. I
Speaker 1: don't care if they're Democrats Republicans. Just want to be
Speaker 1: good human beings and I want them to have the
Speaker 1: privileges that all of us have, the freedoms, the liberties,
Speaker 1: the ability to live their lives out loud, and those
Speaker 1: things you can't take for granted anymore.
Speaker 2: Amen, Governor Newsom, thank you so much for being with us,
Speaker 2: and I hope we do this again sometime. Best of
Speaker 2: luck to you, and best of luck with this project.
Speaker 1: I appreciate honor to be with you. Seriously, take care.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being here.
Speaker 1: Everybody, Thank you, everybody.