The Los Angeles Riots threaten Gavin Newsom in 2028

The Los Angeles Riots are the latest failure of Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and threatens Newsom’s political ambition to run for President in 2028.

For eleven days from June 6-17, riots erupted in Los Angeles City and other Los Angeles County communities in response to immigration enforcement by ICE, as well as pre-planned protests “No Kings” against President Donald Trump. The protests and riots resulted in vandalism and looting of Downtown Los Angeles, the shutdown of the U.S. 101 freeway, one of the busiest in the country, and over 500 were arrested. Thousands of Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff Department, and California Highway Patrol officers were mobilized, dozens injured and several vehicles damaged or destroyed. Press, protestors, and rioters were also hurt.

By the fifth day of chaos, Bass declared a curfew for all of Downtown Los Angeles and Newsom gave an emergency address to the nation. Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines, which Newsom and Bass opposed because it confirmed their failure. While Newsom and Bass pretend to be in control, and paradoxically also the victim, their actions and data show otherwise.

According to Google Trends, Newsom has had five major news cycles in the last year: former President Joe Biden’s debate against Trump in June (good); Biden dropping out in July (mixed); Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November (good); the Palisades and Eaton Fires in January (bad); and the controversial launch of his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom” with Charlie Kirk in March (bad).

Since he was formally passed over in July, Newsom has unsuccessfully tried to introduce positive news cycles to argue he is the Democrat frontrunner for 2028 – he is not. The fires that destroyed over 16,000 homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Altadena, negatively eclipsed everything, followed by the rebuke of progressives for his political duplicity on transgenders to masquerade as a “moderate.” The riots in June are worse than that, a reminder to the rest of the country that California is a disaster under Newsom.

Further evidence that the riots are bad, rather than good, for Newsom and Democrats is they are in damage control. Spin such as “if you [the rest of America] aren’t from here, it’s not all of Los Angeles,” or “it’s ‘only’ one square mile,” or “it’s no different than when a sports team wins” – it’s not happening, it’s not that bad, and actually it’s a good thing. Also, Downtown Los Angeles is six square miles and is an obvious tell of media mouthpieces parroting the same erroneous talking point, and who have reduced coverage altogether. Newsom’s attempts to reverse the narrative have failed as he drops out with the news cycle.

Newsom and Bass pleaded with protestors-turned-rioters, “don’t give Trump what he wants” – stop making them look bad. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi made a rare appearance, along with other House Democrats, cautioning against “exuberance” and “anarchy.” This is in contrast to Democrats co-opting the Black Lives Matter riots in 2016 and 2020, the latter resulting in the successful opposition of Trump. This also suggests Pelosi believes the riots threaten her legacy and flipping the House one last time.

Worse, Newsom again failed his responsibilities as governor and more critically for a prospective president – when to activate the National Guard and lead the U.S. military as Commander-in-Chief. In January, Newsom’s timeline of actions show he waited two days to mobilize the National Guard, and it occurred three times that he didn’t know what was needed, and always came up short. The Pentagon, not Newsom, activated the National Guard. At least nine additional fires, including in the Hollywood Hills, were because of arson and lack of security. There was still looting in Pacific Palisades and Altadena four months later. The fires and the riots were one of many tests that Newsom failed to “meet the moment.”

Los Angeles and California are a disaster, because Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, couldn’t organize a picnic, let alone manage a city or state, or lead law enforcement or the military. Instead of focusing on California and doing his job, Newsom’s priority is “misinformation” with a national audience, whether it is with CNN’s Anderson Cooper or MSNBC’s Jen Psaki or Jacob Soboroff. Newsom only makes the news, when it is bad news, because he is a failure and it’s why he will never be President of the United States.