Latest news with #CaliforniaGovernor
Telegraph
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Kamala Harris governor run threatened by donors' cold feet
Donors do not want Kamala Harris to run for California governor over fears her presidential election loss makes her a liability to the Democrats. The former presidential candidate is considering whether to launch a bid to replace Gavin Newsom as governor when his term ends next year, relying on the advice of her closest allies as she weighs up the decision. But Golden State donors have warned her campaign would be a 'traumatising' reminder of last year's election. One Democrat who donated six-figures to her campaign said: 'Kamala just reminds you we are in this complete sh--storm. 'With Biden, we got bamboozled... I think she did the best she could in that situation, but obviously she knew about the cognitive decline too,' Politico reported. 'I've written so many checks because I knew the Trump administration would be horrible, but we're living in a nightmare because of the Democrats. I'm furious at them, truly.' Ms Harris, 60, has kept a low profile since leaving Washington, DC, in January and returning to California. She has a holiday planned for July and allies hope she will make a decision about whether to run by late summer. She was criticised for rubbing shoulders with A-list stars at the Met Gala last month after her campaign spent $1billion in three months, including on a string of celebrity performances. Ms Harris is said to be deciding whether to enter the gubernatorial race, run for president in 2028 or explore positions outside of elected office. One California fundraiser told Politico that donors believe Ms Harris's campaign would 'bring up the whole pathetic last presidential [race], which no one wants to hear about again. And then it's the whole 'did you know Joe Biden?' thing.'' 'She still would probably lead, but honestly, no one is incredibly pumped.' 'There was more enthusiasm at first,' Mather Martin, a San Francisco-based fundraiser who has worked on Ms Harris's campaigns before, said. 'I think it waned a bit.' Ms Harris's allies are said to be assured Democrats would coalesce around her. They also note she has advantages over the other contenders including a being a recognised name and the ability to fundraise. Christopher Galdieri, politics professor at Saint Anselm, said while some California Democrats might be unenthused by the possibility of Ms Harris running, he does not think that will stop them donating to her campaign. 'I don't know that those donors are saying that they wouldn't write checks if it came down to it... especially if you have a situation where a you know, heavyweight candidate enters the race is favoured to get nominated, favoured to win the election', he told The Telegraph. He added: 'I think those donors would figure out how to get over it and write checks quickly just because, in a purely instrumental sense, do you want to be the big name democratic donor who didn't write a check for the incoming governor of the state?' The GOP is said to be keen to face off against Ms Harris again, with more contenders poised to jump into the race were she to declare. The Republican machine will have ample material to attack the former vice president with in light of the damning allegations in the book Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which claimed that Mr Biden's inner circle shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president. Mr Biden said the allegations were 'wrong' and 'there's nothing to sustain' them. Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat who is running for governor, has accused Ms Harris of being complicit in masking the reality of Mr Biden's decline.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
US court allows Trump to keep control of National Guard in LA
A US appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump can keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles, despite objections from city leaders and California Governor Gavin deployed the troops in response to widespread protests against his immigration crackdown. Local officials called it an unnecessary provocation.A three-judge panel on Thursday said he was within his rights to order the troops into service to "protect federal personnel... [and] property". Trump called it a "big win".The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who found Trump acted illegally when mobilising the troops. In that earlier ruling, Judge Charles Breyer said Trump "did not" follow the law set by Congress on the deployment of a state's National Guard."His actions were illegal... He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith," he wrote in his judge however stayed the order until 13 June to give the Trump administration time to appeal against it, which it did almost immediately unanimous ruling said Trump's "failure to issue the federalisation order directly 'through' the Governor of California does not limit his otherwise lawful authority to call up the National Guard"."This is much bigger than Gavin [Newsom], because all over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done," Trump wrote on social media after the also congratulated the court, adding: "America is proud of you tonight!" The 38-page ruling, however, said the judges disagreed with the president on the merits of the legal challenge against his use of the National Guard. It said his decision to use the troops was not "completely insulated from judicial review".Newsom responded to the decision, saying the court "rightly rejected Trump's claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court."We will not let this authoritarian use of military soldiers against citizens go unchecked", he wrote on X, adding: "Donald Trump is not a king and not above the law."The court's decision allows for the continued deployment of around 4,000 troops to Los Angeles. The Trump administration says they have been protecting federal immigration agents and federal property during said it took over California's National Guard to restore order and to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they conducted raids across Los Angeles to detain people they believed were in the country also ordered 700 Marines to the city, despite Newsom's objections. The National Guard was last deployed by a president without a governor's consent during the civil rights era more than 50 years ago.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump ally Ric Grenell says he'd ‘look at' California bid if Kamala Harris runs
Donald Trump loyalist Ric Grenell says he would 'have to' strongly consider running for California governor in 2026 if former vice-president Kamala Harris signs up to campaign for the position. Grenell – a foreign policy adviser to the president and the interim director of Washington DC's John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – made the remark during an interview airing Sunday on the Politico podcast The Conversation with Dasha Burns. 'If Kamala runs, I think there's a whole bunch of Republicans who are going to have to look at it – not just me,' Grenell said to Burns in preview materials published ahead of the interview. 'If she runs, it is going to make me have to take a look at it.' Grenell told Burns, 'Right now, I'm not running for governor' – but he did say he had recently spoken to Trump about entering the race. He declined to share details about the conversation, which he brought up as Trump vocally criticized California governor Gavin Newsom's response to anti-immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) protests in Los Angeles. Newsom, who is not running for re-election because of term limits, has since sued Trump over his decision to send in military personnel to LA amid the Ice protests. Politico reported in March that Harris was weighing a run to succeed Newsom, her fellow Democrat, after she lost the presidential election in November to Trump. Citing sources close to her, the outlet added that Harris – a former US senator for California – was giving herself until the end of the summer to make a final decision. California's Republicans 'would love' Harris to run for governor because they believe it might vault the race into the national conversation and 'create a fundraising bonanza' that could benefit them in what is otherwise a staunchly Democratic state, Politico has also written. Grenell has a home in the LA area. He has previously been an ambassador to Germany, acting director of national intelligence and Trump's envoy for special missions. He was more recently involved in securing the release of Americans detained in Venezuela. And, in February, Trump made him the interim director of the Kennedy Center. In his talk with Burns, Grenell also addressed the mixed reaction that greeted Trump Wednesday when he attended a performance of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center. Grenell maintained that the Kennedy Center is 'much more tolerant' nowadays despite boos being directed at Trump on Wednesday, when he also got some cheers. 'We want people here who sit next to each other, who voted for somebody completely different for president,' Grenell, the first openly gay person to lead the US intelligence community, said to Burns. 'No one gets vocal and no one gets into an argument because we're watching Les Mis. 'You know – that's the whole idea of tolerance.'
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump ally Ric Grenell says he'd ‘look at' California bid if Kamala Harris runs
Donald Trump loyalist Ric Grenell says he would 'have to' strongly consider running for California governor in 2026 if former vice-president Kamala Harris signs up to campaign for the position. Grenell – a foreign policy adviser to the president and the interim director of Washington DC's John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – made the remark during an interview airing Sunday on the Politico podcast The Conversation with Dasha Burns. 'If Kamala runs, I think there's a whole bunch of Republicans who are going to have to look at it – not just me,' Grenell said to Burns in preview materials published ahead of the interview. 'If she runs, it is going to make me have to take a look at it.' Grenell told Burns, 'Right now, I'm not running for governor' – but he did say he had recently spoken to Trump about entering the race. He declined to share details about the conversation, which he brought up as Trump vocally criticized California governor Gavin Newsom's response to anti-immigration and customs enforcement (Ice) protests in Los Angeles. Newsom, who is not running for re-election because of term limits, has since sued Trump over his decision to send in military personnel to LA amid the Ice protests. Politico reported in March that Harris was weighing a run to succeed Newsom, her fellow Democrat, after she lost the presidential election in November to Trump. Citing sources close to her, the outlet added that Harris – a former US senator for California – was giving herself until the end of the summer to make a final decision. California's Republicans 'would love' Harris to run for governor because they believe it might vault the race into the national conversation and 'create a fundraising bonanza' that could benefit them in what is otherwise a staunchly Democratic state, Politico has also written. Grenell has a home in the LA area. He has previously been an ambassador to Germany, acting director of national intelligence and Trump's envoy for special missions. He was more recently involved in securing the release of Americans detained in Venezuela. And, in February, Trump made him the interim director of the Kennedy Center. In his talk with Burns, Grenell also addressed the mixed reaction that greeted Trump Wednesday when he attended a performance of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center. Grenell maintained that the Kennedy Center is 'much more tolerant' nowadays despite boos being directed at Trump on Wednesday, when he also got some cheers. 'We want people here who sit next to each other, who voted for somebody completely different for president,' Grenell, the first openly gay person to lead the US intelligence community, said to Burns. 'No one gets vocal and no one gets into an argument because we're watching Les Mis. 'You know – that's the whole idea of tolerance.'
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pam Bondi Says L.A. Protesters Nothing Like Jan. 6 Rioters
Attorney General Pam Bondi has insisted that protesters in Los Angeles are 'very different' from Jan. 6 rioters in justifying the administration's response to the unrest in California. California Governor Gavin Newsom had slammed Trump's decision to deploy 4,000 members of the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, claiming the president 'is not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him.' 'What more evidence do we need than January 6th?' Newsom said during a Tuesday night address. To that point, a reporter asked Bondi if there was a double standard between how the Trump administration was treating protesters in Los Angeles and the Jan. 6 rioters who broke into the Capitol to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election. Trump pardoned nearly all of the insurrectionists on his first day back in office. 'This is very different,' Bondi said on Wednesday. 'These are people out there hurting people in California right now. This is ongoing.' 'California is burning,' she added. 'You have people waving Mexican flags, yet they don't want anyone to go back to Mexico. They're burning American flags. This is the United States of America, and we're going to protect Americans.' Demonstrations first broke out last weekend and have since spread to other cities. Not since 1965—when former President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators—has a president sent National Guard troops over the objections of the governor. Bondi said the deployment of troops was 'working' and claimed the administration was 'not scared to go further.' 'We're not frightened to do something else if we need to,' she added. President Donald Trump touted his administration's response on Truth Social Thursday. 'Los Angeles was safe and sound for the last two nights. Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job,' Trump said. 'They all worked well together, but without the Military, Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven't seen in years.' An 8 p.m. curfew was imposed in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday for the second night in a row, which Mayor Karen Bass said was designed to 'stop bad actors who are taking advantage of the president's chaotic escalation.'
