California Governor Gavin Newsom warned President Donald Trump not to interfere with his state’s elections this midterm cycle.
Newsom has become infamous for lambasting the president on X throughout the commander-in-chief’s second term. This time, he seemingly took aim at concerns over the Trump administration's conduct surrounding California’s elections.
In a statement on X, Newsom was blunt.
“A warning to Donald Trump: I’m deploying election lawyers to key battleground districts in California to protect every vote,” Newsom wrote. “And I just made it a FELONY to illegally seize ballots.”
In the run-up to the midterm elections, the Department of Justice has alleged in a lawsuit that over 20,000 ballots were sent to noncitizens. The Trump administration has also announced that it plans to deploy federal workers to monitor the midterm elections.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Newsom hit out at Trump and said that he is taking action against the deployment of federal agents.
“Right now I am focused on getting over a thousand poll workers, folks out there to monitor the DOJ monitors that Trump's going to send to try to steal this election,” he revealed on October 28.
“I can't believe we're doing this. That we have to do this,” he continued. We're not screwing around. Nor is he, but we can't screw around.”
Trump has previously stated that he will accept the midterm results, under one condition.
“I will, if they’re honest elections,” he told reporters.
The president has previously questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential Election and has openly been skeptical about the validity of mail-in voting.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel’s eponymous show, Newsom said: “We see what he's doing on a daily basis to literally suppress the vote to set the conditions where he will then express doubt in the electoral outcome and suggest that it was rigged. That is table stakes.”
Newsom’s term as governor of California officially ends in January, although the election to choose who will succeed him takes place on November 3 along with the wider midterms.
Polling for the midterms has shown that the Democratic Party could increase its power in the House of Representatives and the Senate, raising hopes within the party.
Newsom appeared confident about his party’s prospects: “This is going to be a blue tsunami. We’re going to see record turnout. We’re seeing it all across the country.”
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