California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) delivered a blistering response to President Trump's Thursday primetime address, accusing the president of spreading baseless conspiracy theories and laying the groundwork to interfere with the November midterm elections. In a 53-second video posted to social media, Newsom said the only thing missing from Trump's speech was a tin foil hat, a pointed reference to the president's repeated, unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
“Foreign interference in our elections, that’s a real thing,” Newsom said. “Nothing about what you watched tonight, though, was real. It’s make-believe.” The governor, a potential 2028 presidential contender who has become one of Trump's most vocal critics, argued that the president's rhetoric was designed to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. voting systems before a single ballot is cast.
Newsom went further, suggesting that Trump’s speech made a “legitimate” case for his removal under the 25th Amendment, calling it the “ramblings of a mad king.” He warned that Trump “needs to rig the election before one vote was cast because he knows he's going to lose.”
Trump's Speech Rehashes Unproven Claims
During his address, Trump announced he would declassify documents he claimed revealed “shocking” vulnerabilities in voting machines and alleged Chinese interference in his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden. However, an Associated Press analysis found little new information in the released documents, many of which were heavily redacted and offered no clear evidence of fraud.
The speech drew criticism not only from Democrats but also from some Republicans, who privately expressed concern that rehashing old, unproven allegations could distract from the party's policy achievements. As Representative Jim Himes accused Trump of telling a 'bald-faced lie' in the same speech, the political fallout underscored growing unease within the GOP about the president's strategy heading into the midterms, which historically favor the opposition party.
Newsom Urges Voters to Reject Fear
Newsom concluded his response by urging voters not to “fall prey to cynicism, fear and anxiety” in the months ahead. He called for a mobilization effort to counter what he described as Trump's efforts to undermine democracy. “We can step up and step in, mobilize, organize, not agonize and turn out in record numbers this November and end Donald Trump's presidency as we know it,” he said.
The governor's sharp rebuke comes as Trump's popularity wanes among key swing voters, and as legal challenges and investigations continue to mount. Former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb likened the president to a '2-year-old' over his election denial, while Senator Chris Coons noted that the speech lacked any concrete proof. Newsom's video, which quickly went viral, positions him as a leading voice in the Democratic pushback against Trump's election narrative.
