{"id":47130,"date":"2025-09-08T17:18:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T22:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=47130"},"modified":"2025-09-08T22:20:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:20:26","slug":"newsom-walks-tightrope-on-crime-as-he-seeks-to-counter-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=47130","title":{"rendered":"Newsom walks tightrope on crime as he seeks to counter Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D) is taking steps to address crime even as he emerges as a vocal critic of President Trump\u2019s law-and-order crackdown, demonstrating how pressing the issue is for his party heading into 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom criticized Trump\u2019s decision to send the National Guard into Los Angeles earlier this year amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, and has risen as a top potential contender for his party in the next presidential election. But he has also enacted policies<\/u><\/a> like sending crime-fighting forces into major California cities and breaking up homeless encampments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His actions lay out a potential pathway for how Democrats can navigate the crime issue as the GOP goes on offense with charges that their policies are soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt recognizes and acknowledges that we still we have to fight crime, of course,\u201d said California Democratic strategist Maggie Muir. \u201cWe have to do both. We have to stand up to Trump and acknowledge that we still have to fight crime but also acknowledge and be very clear that Trump\u2019s efforts are not there to be helpful.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polling has regularly showed that the public perceives crime to be a significant problem, and Republicans are in the lead among voters who consider it to be one of their top issues. The GOP regularly accuses Democrats of being soft on crime, most recently concerning the stabbing<\/u><\/a> of a woman in Charlotte, N.C., on public transportation on Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat has become the norm in Democrat-run cities, where Radical Left policies like \u2018no cash bail\u2019 and \u2018defund the police\u2019 put depraved career criminals back on the streets \u2014 free to continue raping, pillaging, and killing their way through our nation,\u201d the White House said in a release Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Trump has sent the National Guard into L.A. and Washington, D.C., taken control of the D.C. police and threatened to send the Guard into other Democratic-led cities, he\u2019s sought to put Democrats on defense<\/u><\/a>, trying to force them into one of two non-ideal options \u2014 accepting Trump\u2019s move or fighting back and facing stronger accusations of not being tough enough against crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many have taken the latter, but Newsom appears to be trying a different path by leading the opposition against Trump but also taking steps to address crime and related issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year after issuing an executive order to direct officials to dismantle homeless encampments, Newsom formed a statewide task force last month to prioritize removing encampments and provide homeless individuals with the services and shelter they need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom also rolled out<\/u><\/a> a plan to deploy California Highway Patrol crime suppression teams to work with local law enforcement in various cities and regions throughout the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the Trump Administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them \u2014 and delivering real results,\u201d he said in a statement announcing the plan. \u201cWith these new deployments, we\u2019re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill has reached out to the governor\u2019s office for comment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic strategists said Newsom\u2019s approach to the issue could be a model for Democrats to avoid getting bogged down in Trump\u2019s framing of the debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muir said Newsom\u2019s approach isn\u2019t new, but it\u2019s taking into account how people feel despite statistics about crime. In many cases, crime has been on the decline in major American cities since the COVID-19 pandemic saw a spike, but polls have indicated many voters still view crime as a major problem, even if they don\u2019t support Trump sending the Guard in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the governor has been very clear, and local mayors and others have been very clear that, if people don\u2019t feel safe, then that is what matters. Stats don\u2019t matter,\u201d she said in terms of how to address the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic strategist Len Foxwell pointed to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D) as taking a similar approach to Newsom. Moore has engaged in a back-and-forth with Trump as the president discusses sending the Guard into Baltimore, but the governor has also responded through policy enactments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He announced $60 million last month in funding for programs to support victims of crime and last week reinstated<\/u><\/a> state resources to support law enforcement in Baltimore and coordinate public safety efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foxwell said this helps Moore and Democrats to \u201ctake that issue off the table and make it more difficult for Trump and his MAGA echo chamber to say that Democrats are ignoring the issue.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he added that Democrats are taking varied approaches, such as with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser\u2002<\/u><\/a>not opposing Trump\u2019s actions as much with greater federal oversight of the district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn this issue, as on virtually every issue, there is no single unified Democratic approach, and I see different party leaders handling the situation differently,\u201d Foxwell said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effectiveness of Newsom\u2019s approach, particularly if he eventually launches a presidential bid in 2028 as is widely speculated, remains uncertain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

California Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio pointed to Newsom\u2019s opposition to the state\u2019s Proposition 36 last year as raising questions about Newsom\u2019s sincerity on the issue. The ballot measure, which passed with overwhelming support, increased penalties and allowed felony charges to be filed for certain property and drug-related offenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It overturned parts of a decade-old ballot measure that lowered those penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not known for his tough-on-crime stances because he hasn\u2019t had any, but he reads polls better than almost any other politician in the country, and he sees that people are concerned about it,\u201d Maviglio said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said if a politician is late to an issue, voters may feel they\u2019re disingenuous, but Democrats with a record of taking action can build credibility on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foxwell said Democrats should strive at least to strike this balance on crime so they can go back to attacking Trump on his own vulnerability, the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to pivot as soon as humanly possible, off of the crime debate and back on to our point of firmest footing and his greatest vulnerability, which is his absolutely atrocious handling of the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

thehill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2002(D) is taking steps to address crime even as he emerges as a vocal critic of President Trump\u2019s law-and-order crackdown, demonstrating how pressing the issue is for his party heading into 2028. Newsom criticized Trump\u2019s decision to send the National Guard into Los Angeles earlier this year amid protests against Immigration and Customs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":47131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27035,1394,2728,1230],"class_list":["post-47130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-counter","tag-crime","tag-newsom","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47132,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47130\/revisions\/47132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}