Former President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom recently clashed online after Trump launched a late-night conspiracy rant, falsely claiming that Democrats were stealing California’s primary elections. Newsom quickly delivered a brutal comeback, mocking the former president’s baseless allegations.
The Late-Night Rant Unable to sleep, Trump took to social media at 1 a.m. to complain about mail-in voting. He falsely alleged that Democrats were trying to steal the California gubernatorial primary and the Los Angeles mayoral primary from “two great Republican candidates.” He also baselessly suggested that the U.S. Attorney’s Office was investigating the delayed vote count.
“The Dumocrats are at it again!” Trump raged online. “They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”
Newsom’s Sharp Comeback Governor Gavin Newsom did not hold back in his response. Addressing the former president’s tirade, Newsom fired back with a sharp and humorous reply:
“Trump is lying about California again. Time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep.”
The Reality of California’s Election System Trump’s claims completely ignore the reality of how California elections operate.
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The Jungle Primary: The state uses an all-party primary system. The top two vote-getters advance to the November general election regardless of their political party.
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Intra-Party Contests: Because California is a deeply Democratic state, many of these races end up being contests where Democrats compete directly against other Democrats, while Republicans struggle to field viable candidates.
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Standard Counting Procedures: California has a long-standing legal process of counting mail-in and drop-off ballots post-Election Day. This standard procedure is why only about 60 percent of votes were tallied initially, not because of fraudulent activity.
A Familiar Hypocrisy Critics were quick to point out the hypocrisy in Trump’s stance. While he continually demonizes mail-in ballots as fraudulent to rile up his base, he recently utilized the exact same method to vote by mail in Florida’s special election in March.
Looking Ahead to the Midterms Political analysts view Trump’s outbursts as a clear preview of his playbook for the midterms. By screaming “rigged!” at early results he dislikes, he is laying the groundwork to dispute any potential Republican losses—mirroring his 2020 strategy. For Democrats, this serves as a glaring warning to prepare well-reasoned, factual responses to combat these inevitable election conspiracy theories.