Only One Democrat Seems Dumb Enough To Go Full ‘Resistance’ Against Trump

He saw his lane, he took it, and now, thrust into the spotlight, the ever-slick and serpentine Gavin Newsom is on a collision course with what is likely his worst political choice since flouting his lockdown rules back in 2020.

It’s been eight years since President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, and 2025 is not 2017. The political climate has changed, drastically. MAGA is ascendant and woke is in retreat. On the federal and state levels, Americans want competent reformers in charge who will do things like secure the border, slash wasteful social justice spending, and lower the cost of living in places saddled by ballooning prices. They want free speech, not censorship. They want safe neighborhoods, not tent cities overrun. They want their fire departments to focus on fighting fires, not fighting for the pet priorities of cross-dressing men who think they can get knocked up. (RELATED: Trump’s Win Is A Symptom — Not Cause — Of American Culture Turned Upside Down)

But Newsom is not listening. The California governor is a political animal — and a dumb one at that — and seems to think he can capitalize on the second Trump election to boost his career and become the de facto head honcho of the Democratic Party; to lead The Resistance 2.0 against Trump 2.0.

As wildfires scorch Los Angeles, Newsom and his fellow California Democrats are now in the process of “Trump-proofing” their state ahead of Trump’s second inauguration — a move straight out of the “Resistance” playbook. Lawmakers have proposed to take $50 million of the state’s budget to protect illegal immigrants from deportation and, according to Politico. Half of the funds will go to the California Department of Justice for any impending lawsuits against the Trump administration, while left-wing immigration nonprofits will receive the other $25 million in state grants to undermine deportation efforts and the rule of law. (RELATED: CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’: The Dark, Painful, American Tragedy At The Heart Of LA’s Apocalyptic Downfall)

In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory, Newsom issued a dramatic proclamation, warning that “the consequences of his presidency for California may be significant and immediate.” He also visited the southern border in early December, attacking Trump’s massive deportation plan to kick out illegal immigrants and claiming a potential 25% tariff against Mexico would backfire.

“The impacts of the cost of food in this state and in this nation are off the charts, this is serious business, no state will be impacted more, the construction industry where nationwide we estimate 13 percent of the folks out there are undocumented will be hurt — we know states like California are significantly higher, it will impact the housing costs, this is serious business,” Newsom said.

At the same stop, Newsom was also asked if the California National Guard would enforce mass deportation and the Trump administration’s immigration policy, to which he said the guard would only support operations that prevented drugs from entering the state.

Other Democratic governors, however, have taken the opposite, smarter approach. It appears these governors have stuck their fingers to the ever-changing political winds and decided to act on the Category-3 gusts that are blowing rightward. For now, they are leaving Newsom and the “Resistance” behind.

A potential 2028 presidential contender, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is softening her stance on the incoming Trump administration, telling The Associated Press (AP) that she plans to meet with the president soon. Ahead of her first speech since Trump defeated Kamala Harris in November, Whitmer rebranded herself as a more bipartisan, compromising politician willing to work with Republicans. Although it’s a smart move, she doesn’t have much of a choice, considering her state’s legislature is a GOP majority.

Michigan Gov. Whitmer hopes to speak with Trump in the coming weeks, having recently softened her tone toward the president-elect and Republicans.

“I don’t view myself as the leader of the opposition like some might,” Whitmer told @AP.https://t.co/TMBX3XxSvi

— Joey Cappelletti (@Cappelletti7) January 15, 2025

“I do look forward to connecting with the incoming president, because we’ve got a lot of important things, and the people of Michigan elected us both twice, just two years apart, both times, and I suspect we can find common ground on some things and that’s my job,” she said.

The AP also asked Whitmer about Trump’s deportation plan, and her answer was revealing. Rather than pledge to back sanctuary cities, a move that might have been politically advantageous in 2016, or, like Newsom in 2025, allocate state funds to block deportations, Whitmer held back a bit.

“I think that it’s premature to say, to anticipate exactly what the Trump administration will do. We’ve been doing some preparation for a number of different scenarios, but I don’t want to prejudge it,” the governor told the outlet. “On the campaign, people say certain things. It’s another thing when they get into office, where they want to spend their energy and the finite resources of government. And so we’ll see what they do.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore was more blunt, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that he is “not the leader of the Resistance.” Although he suggested his willingness to partner with Trump is conditional, and that if “basic rights” are “being violated” he won’t play ball, his vow is a far cry from aggressive — and aggressively stupid — posturing from Newsom.

Gov. Wes Moore: “I’m not the leader of the resistance”
Watch the full video here: https://t.co/Usx8fzTKxe pic.twitter.com/L55sIlSH9j

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 14, 2025

“I’m the governor of Maryland,” Moore said. “My job is to make sure that the 6.5 million people who call the state of Maryland home are going to be supported, protected, that their freedoms and their rights are going to be honored, and also their hopes and their dreams and their aspirations are going to be invested in and supported.”

“I have been very clear that I will work with anybody who wants to be a good partner inside the work to make sure that Maryland is supported, but I am also prepared to make sure … that we will push back when we see those basic rights being violated,” he added.

The Maryland and Michigan governors have the right idea. And so, too, Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who said on Jan. 9 that he had accepted an invitation from Trump to meet him at Mar-a-Lago. Fetterman, sometimes a contrarian who is not afraid to break from his party’s ranks, will be the first sitting Democratic Senator to visit with the soon-to-be president since the election. “President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted. I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians— not just Democrats in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in a statement. (RELATED:  Sen. Fetterman To Become First Sitting Democratic Senator To Visit Trump At Mar-a-Lago)

“We are going to have a conversation,” he told CBS News. “And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation — or invite someone to have a conversation — to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”

Newsom would do well to follow in the footsteps of Whitmer, Moore, and Fetterman, and immediately pump the brakes on his burgeoning Resistance crusade. But the signs so far say otherwise. The political version of Patrick Bateman from “American Psycho,” Newsom is licking his chops, gelling his hair, and waxing his eyebrows, preparing himself for a war he cannot and will not win.