Newsom appears onstage at Texas rally to celebrate Prop. 50 victory, take swipes at Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom took the stage in Houston on Saturday before a cheering crowd of Texas Democrats, saying California’s victory for Proposition 50 on Election Day was a victory for the nation and a strong rejection of President Trump.
Newsom had the air of a politician running for president at the raucous rally, a possibility the California governor said he was considering — and the location he chose was no coincidence.
Newsom accused Trump of pressuring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reorganize the state’s congressional districts in an effort to send more Republicans to Congress, an action that triggered California’s Proposition 50. Newsom successfully pushed for a special election on the ballot measure to counter the effort in Texas, which the governor said was an attempt by Trump and Republicans to “rig” the 2026 midterm elections.
Cheers erupted from the friendly union crowd as Newsom belittled Trump as an “invasive species” and a “historically unpopular president.”
“On all subjects, on the economy, on terrorists, on immigration, on health, [he’s a] historically unpopular president, and he knows it, and he knows it,” Newsom said. “Why else did he call your governor?” Otherwise, why did he feel the need to rig the election before even a single vote was cast? It’s just weakness, weakness disguised as strength. It’s Donald Trump, and he had a really bad night on Tuesday.”
Newsom was the main political force behind Proposition 50, which California voters overwhelmingly approved in Tuesday’s special election. The statewide ballot measure was an attempt to counter Trump’s push to get Republican-led states, including Texas, to redraw their electoral maps to prevent Democrats from taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms and upending his agenda. Newsom and California Democrats hope the change will yield five additional Democrats in California’s congressional delegation, reversing any gains in Texas.
Newsom thanked Texas Democrats for fighting against redistricting efforts in their state, saying it inspired an uprising.
“People all across the United States of America are realizing what’s at stake,” Newsom told the crowd. “And you put a stake in the ground. People are coming. I don’t believe in crowns, in thrones. No kings.”
Newsom’s trip to Texas comes as the former San Francisco mayor is openly flirting with a run for president in 2028. In a recent interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Newsom was asked if he would “seriously” think after the 2026 midterms about a White House run.
“Yeah, I would lie otherwise,” Newsom responded. “I would just lie. And I’m not, I can’t do that.”
In July, Newsom flew to South Carolina, a state that traditionally hosts the South’s first presidential primary. He has said he wants to help his party win back the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. But South Carolina is a solidly conservative state and doesn’t appear to have a single competitive race.
During that trip, South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking Black member of Congress and a renowned Democratic kingmaker, told the Times that Newsom would be “a hell of a candidate.” Newsom received praise — and similar encouragement — when he was introduced at the “Take It Back” rally in Houston.
Newsom now heads to Belém, Brazil, where representatives from 200 countries are gathering to kick off the annual United Nations climate policy summit. For Newsom, it’s a golden opportunity to appear on the world stage and sell himself and California as the antidote to Trump and his attacks on climate change policy.
The Trump administration this year defunded major clean energy projects such as California’s hydrogen hub and moved to revoke the state’s longstanding authority to set vehicle emissions standards tougher than those of the federal government.
