Wall Street Journal: Newsom Leans Into L.A. Unrest to Position Himself as Leader of Opposition

California governor’s presidential prospects hang in the balance as he defends Los Angeles from ‘authoritarian overreach’

Gavin Newsom is, once again, in the eye of a tempest. “It is a profoundly important moment,” the California governor said in an interview Monday evening as protesters massed in the streets and U.S. Marines made their way to the state on the president’s orders.

It is also an important moment for Newsom, widely seen as a top potential Democratic presidential candidate, who has leaned into the conflict to position himself as the leader of the opposition. “Seven hundred brave men and women are being used as pawns in Trump’s war on the Constitution,” he told The Wall Street Journal of the Marine deployment, speaking from the Los Angeles County emergency operations center where he has been holed up helping coordinate the protest response. “Our Founding Fathers didn’t live and die for this.”

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/california-gavin-newsom-trump-los-angeles-1e2ec00f