This Is Not a Distraction — It’s a Constitutional Crisis

Why Gavin Newsom completely misread Trump’s deportation gambit.

by Bob Cesca

WASHINGTON, DC – One of the things I hate most about social media political discourse is when someone, or a group of someones, dismisses a particular news story as a distraction.

Sure, there are many things that Donald Trump does – or mostly says – that are meant to yank our attention away from far more important things – the noise versus the signal, as Steve Bannon describes it. Examples of obvious and intentional distractions include his ridiculous threats to annex Canada, his small-man brags about winning golf tournaments in which his sycophants deliberately allow him to win, his “haters and losers” holiday messages – you get the idea.

During his first term, I must confess that I took the bait on everything. In my defense, I felt then and continue to believe now, that everything he says and does – in fact, the entirety of his public existence – is damaging to the values and character of the United States. So I covered it all. I watched every speech, presser, rally, and nightly COVID show, and I chased down all of his misspellings and ignorant blurts. I spent so much time clapping back at his utter weirdness; his fragility, his futile attempts to disguise his true whiny diaper baby self that it nearly drove me mad.

After the 2024 election, however, I decided to generally, though not always, ignore the usual noisy geyser of crapola in favor of paying closer attention to his actions. Watching what he does, not what he says is a familiar rule to Rachel Maddow Show viewers. In other words, ignore the silly shit. So that’s what I’ve been attempting to do, if for no other reason than to maintain what’s left of my sanity.

Despite what Gavin Newsom said, the Trump regime’s herky-jerky defiance of the courts in the Kilmar Garcia case isn’t the “distraction of the day.” It’s not silly shit. It’s not a distraction in any way. It’s a major front in the administration’s war against institutions, the courts, the rule of law, due process, the 5th and 14th amendments, and human rights. It’s a brewing constitutional crisis.

“This is the debate they want,” Newsom said about getting bogged down in the details of Trump’s justification for deporting Abrego Garcia. “This is their 80/20 issue, as they’ve described it, you know, those that believe in the rule of law defending it, but it’s a tough case because people are really [asking] ‘Are they defending MS-13?’”

This was a gargantuan miscalculation by Newsom – arguably worse than booking Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, and Steve Bannon as his inaugural podcast guests. If this was “the debate they wanted,” the Trump Team chose the wrong thing, and Chris Van Hollen’s defense of Garcia’s due process rights has fully emphasized both the awfulness of the policy and the magnitude of Newsom’s political blunder.

Due in large part to the coverage of Van Hollen’s courageously savvy El Salvador trip and continued advocacy, Donald’s approval numbers on immigration and mass deportations have fallen to their lowest point so far.

Three recent national polls now show approval ratings for the president’s handling of immigration policy underwater. It’s at 45 percent approval versus 46 percent disapproval as of April 21, per Reuters-Ipsos; 45 percent approval versus 50 percent disapproval as of April 9, according to Quinnipiac; and exactly the same 45 percent approval to 50 percent disapproval ratio as of April 22, according to Economist-YouGov.

How about that, governor?

This means the president is underwater on literally every issue. His strongest support was always on immigration and the economy. Thanks to his tariffs that no one asked for, his numbers on trade and the economy are lower than dirt now, and his immigration numbers are moving in that direction. Van Hollen and other smart Democratic leaders chose to attack Donald on his strengths, and it’s paying off not just in terms of political support but in terms of buttressing due process rights in the face of mass kidnappings and extraordinary renditions.

Democratic consultants and too many Congressional Democrats continue to tether themselves to exclusively messaging the economy. Make no mistake: the economy and specifically an anti-oligarchy message should be two of our ongoing threads as 2026 approaches, but contrary to what Newsom and others are saying, we can cover all the things. There are enough of us to manage simultaneous fronts that include due process, the economy, the dismantling of government, equality, constitutional liberties, and so forth. Democrats need to stop pulling their punches while scolding those of us who are, with great efficacy, attacking on myriad fronts.

Newsom couldn’t be more tone deaf. Yet another self-lit fire in the rapid immolation of his political career. It’s difficult to believe that just a year ago he was at the top of a short list of Democrats who could succeed Joe Biden in the presidential race. His political suicide is rapidly outpacing Rudy Giuliani’s very public disintegration – start the countdown to an emergency Newsom press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

I try not to make it a habit of bashing Democrats, but I can’t help but to seriously question the judgment of a leader who lumped a human rights and constitutional crisis into the same category as Donald’s admiration of Arnold Palmer’s dick or his perpetual blurts about the “stollen” (sic) 2020 election.

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