Newsom Reveals Moment He Decided Trolling Trump Was the Only Way to Fight Back: ‘I’ve Changed’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently sat down with local LA news anchor Elex Michaelson and discussed the moment he decided to shift tactics against President Donald Trump.

“Your style is different than a lot of people in the party and even different than maybe you were a few years ago. I mean, it is clear that for so many years, the Democratic Party said, ‘If they go low, we go high.’ And now it seems like if they go low, let’s keep punching them. You know, Trump tweets a certain way, you’re tweeting a certain way. What was the moment when you decided, for you, that we’ve got to do this differently? Was there a moment where you said, ‘We can’t do this anymore?’” Michaelson asked – referring to Newsom’s recent move to outright mock Trump on social media.

“I think it connects here in L.A. and the fires, and how he was completely misrepresenting the facts—misinformation, disinformation. Elon Musk was piling on as well,” Newsom replied.

Michealson noted, “You were really angry then. We spoke to you then. I’d never seen you angry like that.”

“Yeah, because I’d never seen anything like it. In the middle of an emergency, all the lies, all the misrepresentations, all the untruths—and they became gospel and they were spread around the world. And it was a big wake-up call, and we got back on our feet, and we go back on the offense,” Newsom explained, adding:

And then when the National Guard was federalized, what the hell is going on? You saw ICE out here today. You know what that is? That is a preview for things to come. Mark my word. I said this a couple months ago with the National Guard—I said that was a preview for the rest of the country. That’s exactly what happened in Washington, D.C. That’s gonna continue to happen across this country unless we’re successful.

I’m very proud of the lawsuit we filed against the Trump administration on Posse Comitatus—a separate issue. The issue of intimidation, which you saw today—I guarantee you that’s a preview in front of voting booths and polling places all across this country. That’s where ICE will be sent to intimidate and scare people. That’s Donald Trump’s America. That is not the vision of our founding fathers. They did not live and die to see this happen.

So yes, I’ve changed. The facts have changed. We need to change. And we need to stand up to this authoritarian. We need to stand up at this moment. It is foundational. Again, it is not about Republican versus Democrat. This guy is an invasive species. He’s completely different. I respect the Republican Party. I’m married into a Republican family. I have deep love and respect for people I disagree with. He is something altogether different. And he is un—there are no constraints.

So yes, we’re gonna punch back. And yes, we’re going to punch back with the full weight of the fourth largest economy in the world, the size of a 21-state population. And with the consent of the people that endow the power to government, we will do the right thing, and we will push back, and we’ll succeed this November.

Watch the clip above via Fox 11 Los Angeles.