Former CA governor calls out Newsom for gerrymandering

It is not exactly a secret that California Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to position himself for a run at the White House in 2028: he actually just admitted as much.

However, he also took a bit of a hit after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called him out over his gerrymandering ballot measure.

I’d be lying

Newsom stares into the camera and lies to people literally every day, but all of a sudden, when it comes to the 2028 race, he says he cannot lie. Okay, George Washington!

When he was asked about running, he decided to build himself up first, responding, “The idea that a guy who got 960 on his SAT, that still struggles to read scripts, that was always in the back of the classroom, the idea that you even throw that out is in and of itself extraordinary.

“Who the hell knows? I’m looking forward to who presents themselves in 2028 and who meets that moment, and that’s the question for the American people.” That answer just goes to show you how full of it he is and how much in love with himself, as well as the sounds of his voice, he is.

When pressed for a real answer, he responded, “Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise. I’d just be lying, and I can’t do that.”

Savior of the democracy

I have lost count of the number of Democrats who say they are saving our democracy from Donald Trump, but Newsom is and has been on that list for some time.

After excoriating Texas for redrawing its maps, Newwom painted himself as a savior for doing the same thing in California, only for all the right reasons.

When asked about redrawing the maps, he responded,  responded, "I think it's about our democracy. It's about the future of this republic. I think it's about, you know, what the founding fathers lived and died for, this notion of the rule of law, and not the rule of Don. This rule of popular sovereignty, fundamentally, of co-equal branches of government, system of checks and balances.”

In case you don’t follow these maps, know that California has already received an “F” from a Princeton gerrymandering study on competitiveness, not to mention that only 17% of its congressional seats are held by Republicans, even though the state’s voter rolls have about 40% Republicans on them. That, my friends, is gerrymandering.

Arnold speaks out

Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former governor of the state, dropped a bit of a truth bomb on Newsom and his plan.

He stated, “I think when he -- when they say this is temporary, there is no such thing. I mean, the longest programs are government programs that are temporary. Okay, just remember that if this is a tax program or if it is the redistricting program, anything that is temporary with government is permanent.”

The former governor continued, “In the year 2032 when the independent redistricting commission is supposed to come back, they‘re going to say, ‘Wait a minute. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Texas. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Ohio. There‘s still gerrymandering going on in Florida.’”

Don’t forget states like Illinois, which is among the worst in the country. I am so sick and tired of people acting like the GOP is the only party gerrymandering maps. Virtually every red- or blue-dominated state has gerrymandered maps, so call them all out or don’t call out any of them.