California Governor Gavin Newsom has come under fire once again for his unhinged anti-Trump antics, this time after writing an op-ed for Fox News Digital that argued that the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Los Angeles is being carried out based on a belief in “cruelty and intimidation.”
For background, Gov. Newsom wrote his op-ed for Fox on June 16, 2025, in an apparent attempt to sway conservatives to view President Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown as an attempt to “destroy our democracy.” However, Gov. Newsom’s plan backfired when he was fact-checked and debunked by Breitbart News journalist Olivia Rondeau, who called out the governor for repeatedly pushing “falsehoods and distortions of the truth.”
In his op-ed, Gov. Newsom wrote that the Trump Administration had dispatched Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to conduct “large-scale raids around Southern California.” The governor wrote, “They jumped out of unmarked vans, indiscriminately grabbing people off the street, chasing people in agricultural fields. A woman, 9 months pregnant, was arrested in LA; she had to be hospitalized after being released.”
However, according to Rondeau, the pregnant woman whom Gov. Newsom referred is Cary López Alvarado, a 28-year-old who press accounts confirmed was arrested alongside several illegal immigrants. Furthermore, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that López Alvarado was arrested because she obstructed federal law enforcement by blocking access to a car that had two Guatemalan illegal aliens in it.”
In addition, Gov. Newsom claimed that the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown in California was “a dangerous ploy for headlines by an administration that believes in cruelty and intimidation.” He continued, “The Trump administration is pushing mass deportations, targeting hardworking immigrant families, regardless of their roots or risk, in order to meet quotas.”
Moreover, the governor attempted to downplay the extent of the damage caused by protestors, saying, “Although there were incidents of violence and property damage, state and local law enforcement officials restored and maintained order.” He added, “So it’s no surprise that – without any request or input from me – [Trump] illegally commandeered 4,000 of our state’s National Guard members to deploy on our streets.”
Predictably, Gov. Newsom also turned his attention to the forceful removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) from a Department of Homeland Security press conference that he disrupted, saying that the Trump Administration “has manhandled and handcuffed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla for asking the Secretary of Homeland Security a question.”
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However, DHS rebutted claims by woke California leaders like Gov. Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, saying in a June 12, 2025, X post, “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem.” The post clarified, “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker, and officers acted appropriately.”
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