'This is Code Red': Newsom rallies Dems in searing rebuke of Trump

Source: Politico

09/16/2025 10:31 PM EDT

Gavin Newsom led Democrats in a blistering rebuke of Donald Trump on Tuesday, nearly one week after the slaying of Charlie Kirk prompted calls for a cooldown of political rhetoric.

Republicans for days had been blaming Democrats’ dire — and in their view, sensationalist — characterizations of the MAGA movement as laying the groundwork for the conservative activist’s killing. But Newsom, in his first extended political appearance since Kirk’s death, showed no signs of easing up on casting Trump and his GOP allies as a foundational menace, after the administration’s threats to punish the left. And he framed his gerrymander battle with the right as existential, warning that “we’ll lose this republic, we’ll lose this democracy.”

“It is not an overstatement. This is Code Red,” Newsom said during an online livestream with a host of party leaders and influencers to benefit his redistricting ballot measure. “We all need to wake up to what’s going on.”

The ability to gather the luminaries of Very Online Democrats is an apt flex for Newsom, who has been fixated on cozying up to the left-leaning creator class to counter the much-larger GOP media landscape. The line-up included hosts of popular podcasts such as “Pod Save America” and “MediasTouch,” YouTubers such as Brian Taylor Cohen and elected officials like House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.


Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/16/newsom-rallies-dems-in-searing-rebuke-of-trump-00567854