Newsom speaks to Laurens County Dems, against ‘Trump 2.0’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks Wednesday afternoon at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Laurens.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reminded attendees at a stop Wednesday afternoon at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Laurens about their own importance as citizens and as voters in the U.S. today.

“In a democracy, it’s not the Presidency, it’s not governors, it’s not mayor or the state senators or the city council members,” Newsom said. “In a democracy, the most important office is the office of citizen.”

Several hundred people crowded St. Paul’s to hear Newsom, who has told media outlets that he is considering a run for the 2028 Democratic nomination for President. The visit was part of a eight stops put together by the South Carolina Democratic Party to connect with rural voters in Republican strongholds around the state, including Laurens, Pickens, Florence and Oconee counties.

Supporters filled the pews at St. Paul’s, and some were turned away because they did not pre-register online and the small church was already at capacity.
Newsom spoke for around 30 minutes before taking part in a meet-and-greet with attendees.

During the speech, he called on people to remain active during the age of “Trump 2.0,” pointing to an estimated $5 million or more who took part in the recent “No Kings” rallies held across the U.S. to protest the policies and actions of President Donald Trump during his second term in office.

California Gov. Gavin Newsome speaks to a full house Wednesday at St. Paul’s Baptist Church.

“All of us have what Dr. King had, what Cesar Chavez had and what (Nelson) Mandela had – and that’s the most important power and the most important way forward,” Newsom said. “It’s incumbent on al all of us to exercise that leadership. That’s why citizenship is so important. That’s why you are so important at this time.”

Newsom has been publicly critical of Trump’s policies and was in a highly visible row with the President over his deployment of ICE agents and military personnel in Los Angeles. Trump also took over the California National Guard in an attempt to quell anti-ICE protests, a move that incensed Newsom.

He also said Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will hurt rural South Carolinians and rural Americans with billions of of dollars in cuts in Medicaid, while adding trillions to the national debt. Newsom also said he visited several counties in South Carolina during his tour that are in danger of losing rural medical facilities due to the impending cuts brought about by the bill.

“I know you’re filled with fear and anxiety and cynicism,” he said. “You’re stacking the stress – everything you went through with Covid, everything you went through and try to reflect on what happened with George Floyd and social unrest and major issues overseas and nations and people being torn apart. There were challenges with supply chains and the economy, and then to come out of that only to see Trump 2.0 executive orders.”

Newsom, who is in the middle of his second term as California’s governor, has yet to announce a 2028 Presidential run, but has left the door open more so than in the past when he did not enter the Democratic field. That has not kept him from being a fierce critic of Trump and the administration’s policies and tactics on the national stage.

South Carolina is expected to be the first state to hold a Primary Election for the second straight Presidential Election cycle.

If Newsome chooses to launch a campaign for the Democratic nomination, he would join a potentially crowded field of Democrats that could include former Vice-President Kamala Harris, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pete Buttigieg, former Secretary of Transportation under President Joe Biden.

Laurens County Democratic Chair Booker T. Ingram, a political science professor at Presbyterian College, and South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain welcomed attendees to the event. Spain, the first female chair of the state Democratic Party, also introduced Newsom.

“Him being here shows that the South matters,” Spain said.