Maya Angelou tried to tell us, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” But apparently, America didn’t get the message when it came to electing the person who will lead the nation. In just over six months in office, President Donald Trump is already following through on many of the campaign promises his Democratic opponents warned would be harmful to Black and Brown communities, including rolling back DEI initiatives and deploying military personnel to the streets of cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. And while he continues to push the limits of his power, many are worried about how far he’ll go.
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One person who has been extremely outspoken about the potential dangers of Trump’s second term is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and he’s out to warn us that the country’s system of checks and balances, which is the only thing protecting us from living under authoritarian rule, is on life support.
In a recent appearance on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, Newsom told host Steven Bartlett that he’s worried that without oversight from Congress and the courts, Trump has become emboldened to push through his agenda, no matter how unpopular it may be with a majority of Americans.
According to a recent YouGov poll, 70 percent of Americans say they either strongly approve or disapprove of Trump’s job performance.
“He’s a very different guy than he was in the first term. There’s a megalomania there. He feels no limits now, and you feel that in every way,” Newsom said. “I say that as a guy that’s watched the President of the United States not send military in his first term or his first six months [of his second term] anywhere in the world except to an American city.”
Top of mind for Newsom right now is Trump’s support of congressional redistricting in Texas in a push to find extra Republican seats in the House of Representatives. The California governor believes the move could be part of a plan for Trump to stay in office even after his second term ends.
“When people close to Donald Trump send the governor of California a hat that says ‘Trump 2028,’ they’re not f*ing around,” he said.
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