California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) demanded that President Donald Trump end the redistricting efforts across the country, warning that Trump and Republicans are “playing with fire.”
“I am writing to ask you to call on the Governor of Texas and other Red States who are acting on your request to draw new congressional maps through an unprecedented, hyper-partisan gerrymander to rig the upcoming midterm elections, to stop these efforts,” Newsom wrote. “You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make. The attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast is an affront to American democracy.”
Newsom declared that such actions are “not what the Founders envisioned, and California cannot stand idly by as this power grab unfolds.” He further claimed that he does not “do this lightly, as I believe legislative district maps should be drawn by independent, citizen-led efforts, as we have done in California for the last two decades.”
“If you will not stand down, California will be forced to lead an effort to redraw our maps to offset the rigging of maps in red states,” he warned. “If the other states call off their redistricting efforts, we will do the same.”
In a statement shared online, Newsom told President Trump that “it’s time to stand down.”
If Trump does not “do the right thing,” the governor said, California will “neutralize anything you do in the state of Texas.”
