California Governor Gavin Newsom clearly has his eye on a 2028 presidential run, and apparently he thinks the way to get there is by copying former President Donald Trump’s tough-on-crime playbook. His latest move? Deploying California Highway Patrol crime-suppression teams across major cities including Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego, as well as the Bay Area.
These teams are meant to back up local law enforcement in high-crime neighborhoods, targeting repeat offenders, illegal guns, and narcotics. Last year, similar teams racked up over 9,000 arrests, recovered nearly 6,000 stolen vehicles, and seized hundreds of firearms—so on paper, it looks like results.
At the same time, Newsom is trying to sell himself as the more “people-focused” alternative to Trump, whom he is accusing of “militarizing American cities” by sending in National Guard troops without state approval. He’s ridiculed Trump’s so-called “authoritarian tendencies,” and even challenged him to deploy troops in Republican-led states such as Louisiana and Mississippi, where, Newsom claims, homicide rates are far higher than in California.
The hypocrisy is obvious, and the White House didn’t let Newsom off easy, mocking him for copying Trump’s crime agenda after previously blasting similar tactics. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called it “making crime a partisan issue,” but added, “the more Democrats follow Trump’s lead on cracking down on crime, the better it is for Americans”.
Democrats are soft on crime by instinct. It’s their default mode—coddling criminals, ignoring law-abiding citizens, and pretending the problem doesn’t exist. But when political ambition requires it, suddenly they’re “tough on crime,” putting on a performance to save their own skin, rather than actually protecting communities.
That’s what Newsom is doing now.
He’s trying to clean up his own backyard before his planned presidential run. I guess we’re just supposed to ignore the fact that he’s done nothing to reduce crime or fix the homeless problem in his state. In fact, he’s thrown at least $24 billion at homelessness programs with nothing to show for it, and violent crime remains stubbornly high in cities such as Oakland and San Bernardino. Poverty, drugs, and understaffed police departments continue to plague the state, yet Newsom points to flashy statistics and temporary crackdowns as proof he’s taking action on behalf of his constituents; in reality, he’s just trying to position himself better to seek higher office.
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The crime-suppression teams are reactive, not strategic. They’re an attempt to mimic Trump’s methods without actually addressing California’s systemic failures. And while Newsom lectures Trump on federal troops, his own record shows massive public funds disappearing into bureaucratic black holes without fixing the underlying problems.
Meanwhile, he clings to political theater—highlighting crime in GOP-led states to distract from California’s own mess and painting Trump as an overbearing authoritarian. It’s a tough sell when your own state’s cities are in trouble and your solutions are superficial, and meant to help himself, not his state. Newsom wants to run on law and order, but his tenure is marked by fiscal recklessness and half-measures. If he were serious about fighting crime, he would have acted sooner and smarter.
At the end of the day, Newsom’s crime teams are just a showpiece, a way to borrow Trump’s playbook while pretending to oppose him. For voters paying attention, the question is simple: can a governor who can’t account for billions spent on homelessness—or fix his state’s crime problems—seriously claim he’s ready to lead the country? The stunt is in motion, but Newsom can’t cover up California’s failures with a gimmick.
Newsom’s crime crackdown is a desperate stunt, not leadership. While parroting Trump’s tactics, he ignores his own colossal failures on homelessness and public safety. PJ Media exposes the truth the mainstream won’t touch. Join PJ Media VIP with code FIGHT for 60% off—get exclusive, ad-free insight. Don’t wait, join today.
