BURSTCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) criticized Border Patrol as “sick and pathetic” after armed agents made a show of force outside the governor’s Thursday press conference to announce retaliatory redistricting measures.
“It just said everything you need to know about the setting that we’re under," Newsom said after the event. " That they chose the time, manner, and place to send their district director outside right when we’re about to have this press conference."
He added, “It’s everything we know about Donald Trump’s America.”
Border Patrol agents made one arrest in the area near the presser, located at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Gregory Bovino, the local Border Patrol chief, denied that there was any other motive in the agency’s presence downtown.
“Breaking the law is not coincidental. Breaking the law is breaking the law,” he told local reporters.
At the news conference, Newsom formally announced that he would seek a ballot measure to temporarily bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission in favor of a partisan map meant to counter any GOP redistricting measures in Texas.
The California governor, widely seen as a 2028 presidential hopeful, has sought to fashion himself as a policy foil to President Trump.
On style, however, Newsom has more recently taken a leaf out of Trump’s playbook.
“BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!” his press office wrote on social platform X in response to the agents.
Redistricting battles have sprung up across the U.S. after Texas Democrats fled the Lone Star State to delay passage of a new Congressional map that would give Republicans at least five more House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democratic states, including Illinois and New York, have also threatened to fight back with their own mid-decade redistricting plans.