Gavin Newsom, civil rights icon. 

That's the look he is going for, anyway. A slick, oily, narcissistic icon, to be sure, but an icon nonetheless. 

As I have written many times in the past, everything the Democrats do is performative. It's all about building a narrative, and in this case, Gavin Newsom is deploying his Hollywood good looks and his "I care about the little guy" shtick to portray himself as a martyr for the helpless migrant just trying to get by under the radar. 

Trump’s border czar is threatening to arrest me for speaking out.

Come and get me, tough guy.

I don't give a damn.

It won’t stop me from standing up for California.pic.twitter.com/DvVQljAgir

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025

Newsom is seizing (or is it "pouncing?") on a "cheap fake" video of Tom Homan being asked about whether Gavin Newsom or anybody else is above the law, to which he said no. He also said that so far, neither of them has broken the laws--Homan laid out the statutes in question, which all have to do with obstructing or assaulting law enforcement--and explicitly distinguished between First Amendment protected speech and committing felonies. 

Gavin Newsom: "I told the President, get it over with.. Arrest me."

This guy is delusional.
pic.twitter.com/UXi0spqNhX

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 10, 2025

Newsom twisted that into a threat to arrest Newsom for "speaking out," which is precisely the opposite of what Tom Homan said. A complete inversion, in the same manner that the "very fine people" quote from President Trump was twisted to mean exactly the opposite of what Trump actually said. 

Narrative building. 

#6 – Tom Homan accuses NBC of deceptive editing, says “I never threatened to arrest Governor Newsom.”

Gavin Newsom publicly challenged Tom Homan to “come after me, arrest me” in an MSNBC interview last night.

Now, Homan is punching back—and calling out the network for taking… pic.twitter.com/Ui8s1dSE5a

— The Vigilant Fox