Newsom slams Trump admin during South Carolina tour: 'America in reverse'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking in the small city of Camden, South Carolina, on Tuesday, slammed President Donald Trump's administration for what he said was a reversal of civil rights and called on Democrats in the Palmetto State to vote in the midterms.

"What we're experiencing is America in reverse," Newsom told attendees. "They're trying to bring us back to a pre-1960s world on voting rights -- you know it well. Civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women's rights and not just access to abortion, but also access to simple reproductive care, contraception… It's a moment that few of us could have imagined."

His remarks came at the end of the first day of a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina, hosted by the South Carolina Democratic Party.

Newsom has said he is making the visit to help bolster South Carolina Democrats and to reach people in rural corners of the state -- although the governor is also considered a rumored 2028 Democratic presidential candidate hopeful and has been bolstering his national profile in recent months. The Democratic governor, however, has not made any public comments that he intends to run in the next presidential election.

South Carolina served as the first official primary contest for Democrats for president in 2024, although it is unclear if it will remain that way for 2028.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., introducing Newsom during his Camden appearance, jokingly acknowledged Newsom's rumored ambitions.

Newsom made the comments on a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina.

"We cannot just focus on the president. We got to build a foundation. So as we go around welcoming these candidates who are running for president –," Clyburn joked, prompting laughter from the audience and Newsom as well.

When addressing the crowd, Newsom acknowledged that he and other Democrats had been concerned about "this moment," when out campaigning against Trump before the election.

"We're seeing rights regression, and we're seeing this great divergence, red versus blue, blue states versus red states, where this banning binge is occurring, where this cultural purge is occurring," Newsom said.

"You can shape the future," the governor continued. "The future's not just something to experience. It's something to manifest. It's not in front of you. It's inside of you. Decisions, not conditions, determine our fate and future, and it's a reminder of your power at this moment."

Newsom also threw in some sharp criticism of President Donald Trump for the administration's immigration enforcement action in Los Angeles on Monday, which coincided with California's commemoration of six months since the massive wildfires in the Los Angeles area that devastated the region in January.

There's "a war that's been declared at home, my home," Newsom said.

"We cannot let him win. We cannot allow him to win. So that's why I'm here," the governor added, calling on the attendees to vote for Democrats to be able to take back the U.S. House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections.

Newsom's stop in Camden was the last stop of a whirlwind day that also included a stop at a cafe in the northeastern city of Florence, South Carolina, where he made similar remarks.

The South Carolina Republican Party has slammed Newsom's tour through the state as opportunistic, framing his record as governor as one that voters in South Carolina are keen to avoid.

"Apparently California Governor Gavin Newsom is looking for some new voters to fool as he plans to run for President in 2028. Or maybe he's looking for voters who left California due to high taxes, government over-regulation, and woke insanity… Gavin Newsom should go sell Crazy California somewhere else. He won't find many takers here," South Carolina Republican Party chair Drew McKissick wrote in a statement on Monday.

Throughout his remarks, Newsom touted his own efforts to stand up to the Trump administration and help rebuild the Democratic Party. He made repeated references to his efforts to support the Democratic presidential ticket in 2024 and promoted California as “the most un-Trump state,” while also slipping in the occasional “y’all” in a nod to the South.

California Gov. Newsom suing Fox News for $787 million for defamation

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing Fox News for $787 million for defamation.

Newsom's allegations stem from Fox News host Jesse Watters' coverage of the battle between the governor and President Donald Trump when the Trump administration sent the California National Guard to Los Angeles earlier this month.

Watters allegedly reported on Fox News that Newsom lied about a phone call with Trump, and the governor claims in his lawsuit that Watters' show misleadingly edited a video of Trump to support the claim.

Trump, asked by a reporter on June 10 when was the last time he had spoken to Newsom, replied, "A day ago. Called him to tell him, got to do a better job, he's doing a bad job" -- even though, according to Newsom, the last time they had spoken was three days prior to that, at 1:28 a.m. ET on June 7, and Newsom said they had not discussed the protests in question.

After Newsom asserted on X that the two had not spoken on June 9 as Trump appeared to have said, Watters, according to the lawsuit, accused Newsom of lying and played the video clip of Trump telling the reporter the two had spoken -- but edited out the start of the clip where Trump said "a day ago."

"If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump's behalf, it should face consequences -- just like it did in the Dominion case," Newsom said in a statement Friday, referring to the 2023 settlement Fox reached with Dominion Voting Systems -- also for $787 million -- after the voting machine company accused Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden's favor.

"I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet," Newsom said in his statement. "Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine."

In a letter sent to Fox, Newsom's attorneys said that unless Fox News issues a retraction and an on-air apology, "we will proceed with the lawsuit so that a jury can determine Fox News’s culpability and assign a monetary value to its 'blatantly unethical' conduct."

Fox News, in a statement, said, "Gov. Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed."

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