Every week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican governors of Florida and Texas escalate their cross-country rivalry.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are sending aircraft and buses full of Latin American migrants to California towns.
Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta have warned criminal prosecution for virtual kidnappings.
“I know one was on the basis of all the interviews and all the facts that are now in evidence,” Newsom told NBC’s “Today” after an aircraft carried immigrants to Sacramento. “Now we must prove it.
They’re human pawns for a politician. “That’s sad and pathetic,” Newsom added. California is the fourth- or fifth-largest economy on Earth. Mean business. Ron DeSantis should know that.”
Bonta tweeted, “State-sanctioned kidnapping is immoral.”
DeSantis and Abbott argue that those brought to California consented and show the Biden administration’s inaction on border security.
Abbott tweeted that Biden’s unrestricted borders had swamped Texas border towns. Texas transports migrants to sanctuary cities like LA to help border communities. We will persist until Biden secures the border.”
Predictably the encounter sparked further hatred.
At a bill-signing ceremony last week, DeSantis, a presidential candidate, said Newsom “has a real serious fixation on the state of Florida” after Newsom again blasted him on Fox News. His behavior is strange. Stop waffling, I’d say. Will you confront Joe Biden?”
“Are you going to join in or sit on the sidelines and chirp?” DeSantis continued. “Why don’t you throw your hat into the ring?”
A federal judge’s ruling found that one Newsom gesture is costing Californians more than $500,000, while Florida and Texas taxpayers are funding the aircraft and buses that bring migrants to California.
After Texas passed a law allowing private lawsuits against anybody who terminated a fetus with a detectable heartbeat and making it nearly hard to defend such an action, Newsom convinced the California Legislature to approve a copycat provision impacting prohibited weapons makers.
Newsom said it was a gimmick to show the Texas law’s ridiculousness, not a policy statement.
The California statute was declared unconstitutional by federal Judge Roger Benitez because it would have obliged defendants to pay litigation fees even if they won. The Texas law has withstood legal challenges.
“I want to thank Judge Benitez,” said Newsom, who has previously criticized Benitez for gun rights judgments. We’ve always called Texas’ anti-abortion law absurd. Judge Benitez just ruled it unconstitutional.”
After challenging the California legislation, Benitez granted the gun rights groups over $557,000 in legal costs, which they can use to oppose additional California gun laws.
Newsom’s antics costs taxpayers.