This Trump kryptonite just snuck up on him — and it packs a punch

Over an astonishingly short period, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has transformed himself from a competent but uninspired "California liberal" to a piercing voice cutting through the MAGA music and crypto techno otherwise drowning out this summer.

In so doing, Newsom has become our most necessary American, the country's ego to President Donald Trump's id.

Reasonable people can differ in pegging the precise point at which the California governor turned a corner. Some might say the spark first ignited during Trump's visit to Los Angeles after the fires, when Newsom set an uncompromising and unflinching non-political tone.

Others may nod to the objection and subsequent litigation over National Guard troops roaming those same LA streets. Perhaps it took right up until he said, "No more," and promised to redistrict California in response to Trump's Texas power play.

While people quibble, all can agree that Newsom is now meeting the moment, whether it is a press conference on the new California initiative, the now nearly inevitable political showdown going forward, or the elegant all-cap trolling on Xitter, tweets with a familiar syncopation and beguiling iteration, matching Trump word for incoherent word. Newsom has this.

He is now the post-MAGA "GCN," and only starting to roar. But it took a president on the prowl of democracy to put him in the hunt.

The single most remarkable thing about Trump 2.0 is not the pace at which he is tearing down our hopes for the republic's health; that project was in the works and has been campaigned on since 2021.

No, the most shocking development has been the Democrats' mealy-mouthed retreat from center ground, the humiliating hole in space presumed to be covered by our Congressional representation. Whether it was Chuck Schumer's cave on the debt ceiling or Hakeem Jeffries's lukewarm resistance, the voiceless opposition has never been so muted.

Enter Newsom.

A year ago, all of this would have seemed laughable. On the national scene, Newsom — however competent and likable — was seen at best to be a placeholder for a nation too immature and insufficiently desperate to call on Pete Buttigieg to restore sanity as a 2008 redux, "rainbow version."

Newsom was, after all, a "California liberal," the death knell for any part of the country east of the Sierras. Moreover, Gavin may as well be a "Clinton," having been on the political scene for decades with nary a memorable noise at a Democratic convention, primary, or campaign. That was then.

It took Trump morphing into "New Trump" to bring out the fight in Gavin Newsom. And fight he has.

Right.

Democrats and Independents need this. Even saintly Joe Biden, circa 2020, failed to really capture an all-things-anti-Trump national zeitgeist. Scan the coast-to-coast "room" and point to Trump's most formidable foe right now. There is only one person rising to today's demand.

One is tempted to consider whether anyone else even wants to speak up. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it were hard to point to Trump's primary opposition? If we had governors east-west-up-down and a Congress full of energy and offense? We don't, but we do have Gavin. And just perhaps he is enough, especially if he unifies.

Not a moment too soon, it was Newsom who picked Democrats' lower lips from the floor after Texas announced its Trump-mandated redistricting plan with a "fight fire with fire" hot response, one that stunned Republicans used to Democrats only pouting about the travesty of it all while holding to an ideal of which, at least right now, is not an option. Newsom knows this all too well and perhaps stunned just as many Democrats in his abrupt, unexpected shot — finally.

No, no one should anoint Newsom as positioned as anything heading toward 2028; the first order is saving a meaningful vote at all. But he is "our" candidate for 2025 and '26, anointed or self-appointed, and in whom our support is best placed.

He has the strength to back up any plan. Grok puts California's $4.5 trillion GDP as the fourth biggest in the world. Trump and MAGA badly need that economy to flourish to keep the nation afloat, especially amidst glum economic news and tariffs hanging over us, particularly in the Midwest. The governor can cause misery for Trump through any number of moves. Unlike others, he has the necessary leverage.

Newsom needs to expand his national footprint. Fortunately, he can best protect his state by enveloping that other nation, the red-white-and-blue middle to the blood-letting red right. Take the moment into next week, next month, and definitely next year.

He needs to highlight his national super-PAC, "Campaign for Democracy," but brand it with his name, the one that matters, and buff it out, build the meme in the moment. Find his own billionaires, sic "Bernie-bros" at the cryptos, rally women — the most discerning Dems, go on Meidas and Rogan, pocket money while unleashing opposition, and for God's sake, keep up with the masterful social media. Fund all things opposition on a national scale.

We need someone, and it appears to be him. Good.

It is hard to "come from nowhere" when coming from California. Yet, weirdly, it feels as though he has. Perhaps it is because the bar has been set so low. Which is not to say that Newsom isn't rising. In a nation dominated by fear flowing from those outside of Trump's domination, he seems to revel in it. Amazingly, where he came from couldn't matter less, only that he came at all.

Someone finally grasped the reins. It behooves all of us to meet him in this moment and throughout this county. He is the leader the nation most needs, the now all-too-necessary American.

• Jason Miciak is an American attorney, past Associate Editor of Occupy Democrats, author, and can also be found on Politizoom.