Who is Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California that Trump is turning into a resistance hero?

A troubled marriage, alcohol and 4 children: Gavin, 58, the son of a California appeals court judge, is a "rebellious Irish Catholic who learned to develop critical thinking by studying with the Jesuits."

Massimo Gaggi – Corriere della Sera

Disoriented, in search of a new leader, the Democrats receive help from Donald Trump himself, who, by deciding to make California very democratic at the epicenter of his battle to deport undocumented immigrants, is transforming Gavin Newsom into a hero of the resistance.

Resistance in defense of immigrants: a cause that in the eyes of the Republican leader is destined to relegate the Democrats and the governor of California to a permanent minority position, given that the prevailing atmosphere in America is one of hostility towards illegal immigrants.

Ultimately, Donald won the election by placing this very issue at the center of his campaign.

However, now, Newsom is trying to transform himself above all into a fortress of resistance to the authoritarianism of a president who, already under accusations of dozens of violations of the law and Congressional prerogatives in the first months of his second term, has made his riskiest bet: he violates the prerogatives of autonomy of the States of the Union, sacred in the US especially for Republicans, taking advantage of the protests of Friday and Saturday, marked by several episodes of hooliganism (a few burned cars, some minor injuries, no hospitalizations), first by sending the Federal National Guard without the request of the governor and mayor of Los Angeles, then even mobilizing the Marines.

So Newsom, who even before last November's vote was the most well-known local Democratic leader nationally (much more well-known than other governors who are potential challengers for the White House), but who also brought with him many contraindications to his candidacy, finds himself once again in the front row for the 2028 challenge: he denounces Trump for actions he considers illegal and accuses him of wanting to fan fires instead of putting them out.

Will he be able to convince American public opinion even if the unrest of recent days turns into guerrilla warfare?

Gavin, 58 vjeç, djali i një gjyqtari të gjykatës së apelit në Kaliforni, e përcakton veten si një katolik irlandez rebel që mësoi të zhvillonte mendim kritik duke studiuar me jezuitët. Një sfond që sigurisht e ndihmoi në karrierën e tij politike, fillimisht kryebashkiak i San Franciskos nga viti 2004 deri në vitin 2011, pastaj zëvendësguvernator i shtetit gjatë mandatit të Jerry Brown, më në fund guvernator i Kalifornisë që nga viti 2019 – ndoshta jo më pak në një jetë private mjaft të trazuar, të paktën deri në vitin 2008: ngjarje që mund të jenë një faktor cenueshmërie për një kandidaturë të mundshme për Shtëpinë e Bardhë.

Tre vitet e para të martesës “të trazuar” me gazetaren televizive Kimberly Guilfoyle, e cila më vonë u bë një prezantuese ultrakonservatore e Fox (ajo u detyrua të largohej sepse u akuzua për abuzim seksual me një koleg), këshilltare e Trump dhe më pas e fejuar, deri pak muaj më parë, me djalin e tij të parë, Donald Jr.

Më pas njolla e një marrëdhënieje seksuale me gruan e mikut të tij më të mirë, Alex Tourk, i cili kishte qenë gjithashtu organizator i fushatës zgjedhore të kryetarit të bashkisë dhe shefi i tij i stafit në bashkinë e San Franciskos.

Në vitin 2005, Gavin e pranoi marrëdhënien, duke i kërkuar falje publikisht Tourk-ut dhe qytetarëve. Këto janë vitet e abuzimit me alkoolin.

Në shkurt të vitit 2007, kryebashkiaku njofton se po i nënshtrohet një trajtimi për të kapërcyer këtë varësi. Ai rishfaqet dhe martohet me regjisoren Jennifer Siebel në vitin 2008, me të cilën ka katër fëmijë. Përvoja e tij si guvernator ishte gjithashtu e trazuar, gjatë së cilës iu desh të merrej me emergjenca të ndryshme: epidemia e koronavirusit që shkaktoi shumë viktima në Kaliforni, e shtyu të dekretonte disa bllokime mjaft të ashpra që i zemëruan konservatorët (i famshëm është rebelimi i Elon Musk i cili u përpoq të detyronte rihapjen e fabrikës së tij Tesla, duke arritur më pas në vendimin për të zhvendosur kompanitë e tij në Teksas), por edhe shumë të moderuar.

Pastaj zjarret në pyje që kanë shkatërruar shtetin për vite me radhë, duke arritur deri në zonën urbane të Los Anxhelos dhe kriza e shkaktuar nga rritja e madhe e komuniteteve të pastrehë, shpesh me probleme me drogën dhe alkoolin, të cilët ngritën kampe në zona gjithnjë e më të mëdha të San Franciskos dhe Los Anxhelosit.

Për një kohë të gjatë shteti më tolerant ndaj të pastrehëve, vitin e fundit Kalifornia ka ndryshuar kurs pikërisht sepse Newsom, duke kuptuar se edhe elektorati progresiv i metropoleve të Paqësorit nuk mund t’i duronte më ndotjen dhe emergjencat kriminale të zonave urbane të zëna nga të pastrehët, urdhëroi çmontimin e qyteteve me tenda. Dhe kur kryebashkiakja me ngjyrë e Los Anxhelosit, Karen Bass (tani aleate e tij në kundërshtimin e Trump) hezitoi, Newsom shkoi personalisht për të filluar prishjet.

Before the 2020 elections, there was a lot of talk about his candidacy, also because Newsom was the only Democratic politician (apart from Biden, his vice president Kamala Harris, and several candidates from previous primaries such as Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg) with national and even international fame.

After the Hamas massacre in October 2023, Newsom had been to Israel to show his solidarity with Netanyahu, then to China where he had discussed environmental and trade issues with Xi Jinping.

His many political initiatives – from launching the podcast Politickin to challenging a televised debate with Florida's ultraconservative governor, Ron DeSantis – seemed like the moves of a figure intent on building a springboard in the run-up to national elections.

But Newsom has always declared his loyalty and support for Biden. And when the president decided to withdraw, he had no choice but to transfer his support to his “sister” Kamala Harris: a progressive politician from California, his age who grew up, like him, in San Francisco. When there were still doubts about Biden’s re-election, there was much discussion among Democrats about the possibility of choosing Newsom: young enough, dynamic, photogenic, but also too progressive for moderate Democrats in the United States, while on the left he was criticized for his turn against the homeless and had risked ending up in the target of #metoo for his long-standing relationship with the wife of one of his associates.

But he was saved by the woman who had publicly declared that she had had an extramarital affair with him, who declared that she was an adult, conscious, and not conditioned. Events that would be insignificant for a Trump-style candidate, but which risk weighing heavily on the left.

For all of this, for several administrative failures (the high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco that cost billions and never came to fruition) and for various instances of Gavin's campaign financing and his wife's philanthropic foundation from companies that then received preferential treatment from the State, Newsom's potential candidacy for 2028 seemed to be heading towards a dead end.

With Kamala's clear defeat considered by many as a kind of tombstone, does it become risky to bet on another Californian progressive, who is alien to the moderate culture of the "swing" states, from Michigan to Wisconsin, without which recapturing the White House is a mirage?

Now, having established himself as a fierce accuser of Trump's abuses and a defender of Republican legitimacy, Newsom returns to the center of the national political arena. Is this a mistake by Trump, or is it the cynical political calculation of a leader convinced that a California-led Democratic front will never be able to penetrate the center?