Democratic governors and other party officials from across the country are acting as if a nuclear weapon is about to be detonated in their states. They are preparing to "Trump-proof" their state's abortion, climate change, and immigration laws to prevent any attempt by the federal government to override their "rights."
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”
"We will fight in the courts, we will fight on the beaches, we will—" Oh, wait. Wrong war.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was even more hysterical. “To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker said Thursday at a news conference in Chicago.
Trying to get past the 300+ pound Pritzker is the real challenge. But the question for both governors is: What's the worry? The Republicans in Congress may be in the majority, but they still won't be able to agree on much of anything. And without a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate, Democrats can still block almost any major legislation offered by the Republicans.
Both Pritzker and Newsom know this. This is grandstanding, plain and simple. And the subtext is fascinating. Both men are mentioned prominently as candidates for president in 2028. The real issue confronting the Democratic Party is who will lead the "resistance"?
Pritzker is openly auditioning for it.
The governor is widely viewed as a possible future contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, a spot that is now wide open for 2028. He has not said if he’ll run for a third term in 2026 and declined to answer questions about that Thursday.
He noted Trump was president during his first two years as governor, and said he spent a lot of time working “to defend Illinois against an awful lot of policies that the Trump administration was imposing.”
Newsom actually has a plan to resist Trump. He is going to ask the state legislature to give the attorney general's office more money to challenge any federal laws or regulations that he believes "threaten" California laws that the left thinks are holy writ, like the EV mandate that will require all new vehicles sold by 2035 to be electric or hybrid.
Related: Pop Some Popcorn, Sit Back, and Watch the Democrats Tear Each Other Apart
Other blue states are also making plans to "resist" Trump's presidency. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James said their staff will meet periodically to coordinate legal strategies.
“Our team will do whatever we have to do to identify any possible threats to these rights that we hold dear in the State of New York and protect New Yorkers,” Hochul said at a news conference Wednesday.
"Rights that we hold dear" are under threat? Of course, they can only be talking about abortion rights. It's pretty late in the damn day to become born-again states' rights supporters.
Hochul said she has created a task force focused on developing policy responses to “key areas that are most likely to face threats from the Trump administration” such as “reproductive rights, civil rights, immigration, gun safety, labor rights, LGBTQ rights and our environmental justice.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who as state attorney general filed dozens of lawsuits against Trump during his first term, said they will “have to see if he makes good on what he promised and ran on in terms of Project 2025 or other things.”
Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she and other attorneys general are “absolutely cleareyed that president-elect Trump has told us exactly what he intends to do as president.”
The anti-Trump hysteria on CNN and MSNBC is beyond belief. They're talking as if a foreign invader was going to occupy the White House and must be "resisted" at all costs.
Instead, despite all the "warnings" and "predictions" of violence and chaos, America quietly went about the business of showing the Democrats the door and giving them a healthy push.
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