As California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to fight Donald Trump‘s ICE raids and military occupation, Bill Maher sees presidential material.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time, the comedian suggested Newsom could be “the guy for the Democratic party, like I always thought he’d be” after the governor and President Trump fought for control of California’s National Guard in court.
“You know what happens in movies; as soon as there’s a big problem, a hero will rise,” said Maher. “And I think we saw that this week, because Gavin Newsom—this makes me feel good, because people make fun of me all the time. ‘Why do you stick with Gavin? He’s too far left.’ Yeah, but he’s been moving to the center lately, and he kinda had his moment now.”
Maher added, “I did a joke in the monologue about it, but he’s saying, ‘Trump likes this.’ I think he might like this too.”
After a federal appeals court sided with Trump, Maher shared a news clip of Gov. Newsom challenging the twice-impeached president. “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” said Newsom in the video.
“You think Trump liked having his face on a mugshot? This guy wants his face on a mugshot. He could become like one of the ‘Hot Felons’,” joked Maher, providing a graphic to make his point.
On Wednesday, Newsom condemned Donald Trump in a fiery speech after the president deployed nearly 5,000 troops to LA amid ICE raid protests, lambasting the “brazen abuse of power by a sitting president [that] inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk.”
“Look, this isn’t just about protests in LA. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first — but it clearly won’t end here. Other states are next,” said Newsom, adding: “Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. The moment we’ve feared has arrived.”
Gov. Newsom’s speech came less than an hour after LA Mayor Karen Bass issued a dusk-to-dawn curfew for tonight on a on-mile square area of DTLA. After Trump Golden federalized State National Guard on June 7 as protestors focused on federal buildings being used as makeshift detention centers, 4,000 members of the Guard are downtown along with 700 U.S. Marines.
Seen by many as a prelude to invoking the Insurrection Act, Trump’s order to put National Guard boots on the tense streets of LA came without any consultation with Newsom, the Governor has said repeatedly the past few days.
Newsom’s sharply-crafted words prefaced a federal judge’s Thursday ruling that Trump “return control of the California National Guard” to the governor, a decision that was quickly overturned by an appeals court ahead of a June 17 hearing on the matter.
