‘Sit this one out:’ Newsom lays into MAGA AG as social media spat escalates

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) took aim at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday after the state’s top law enforcement officer threatened to arrest Texas Democrats for opposing Republican efforts to redraw the state’s congressional district map in their favor.

Texas lawmakers are set to convene for a special session following pressure from the White House for the state to redraw its maps to give Republicans five additional House seats, Politico reported last week. News broke on Tuesday, however, that top Democrats had urged Texas Democrats to resist the redistricting efforts, something Paxton didn’t take kindly to.

“If Democrats ignore their duty to their constituents by breaking quorum, they should be found and arrested no matter where they go,” Paxton wrote in a social media post Tuesday, pledging that his office stood ready to assist in “hunting down and compelling the attendance of anyone who abandoned their office.”

Newsom fired back at Paxton for the threat, writing that Paxton had shown “the American people (his) true color,” a comment that prompted a Paxton retort.

“In California, it seems lawlessness only gets addressed when President Trump steps in to save the day, but here in Texas, we protect our citizens and uphold the law,” Paxton wrote Wednesday. “You should try it sometime, Gavin.”

Late Wednesday afternoon, Newsom suggested that Paxton would be better off to “sit this one out,” given his own troubled legal history involving an indictment on fraud charges, and a separate investigation into bribery and obstruction that led to his impeachment in the Texas House.

“Dude, you’re so corrupt you were put on trial for impeachment, were under indictment, faced a federal investigation for bribery, were forced to do community service, and had to pay restitution,” Newsom wrote. “Would sit this one out.”