President Donald Trump finally caught a break in the courts with his eternal fight against Democrats, in particular, California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Trump overrode Newsom to activate the National Guard to quell riots, but Newsom objected and sued.
After a lower court ruled that Trump had overstepped his bounds, the appellate court unanimously ruled in favor of Trump.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump federalized the National Guard to send them to Los Angeles to help quell the rioting.
The Trump administration also sent Marines to the state to protect federal officers who had been assaulted during the unrest.
After ordering the mobilizations, Trump trolled Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, posting, "The very incompetent ‘Governor,’ Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’"
They did not thank him... they sued him.
While the streets of L.A. were on fire, local stores were being looted, and personal property was being damaged, news outlets claimed this was nothing more than people having some fun watching cars burn (yes, that is seriously what they said).
Newsom claimed the rioting was all Trump’s fault, and the military presence was only making things worse.
In his announcement of the suit to fight Trump over the Guard deployment, he posted, “Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic."
Newsom continued, “Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence -- this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”
While Trump lost this battle in the lower court, he had far more success at the appeals court, which handed a unanimous decision on his ability to federalize the Guard.
The court stated, "Affording the President that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
I am glad that Trump won this battle, as I truly feel sorry for the people of California who did not vote for Newsom or Bass but are suffering from their policies.
Having said that, as I have stated before, if I were Trump, I would have made it clear that, if needed, the Guard was available. However, I would have let Californians see the Democrats for what they are and where their loyalties lie, as it is clearly not with law-abiding citizens. By activating the Guard, Trump just fed the Democrats the narrative they needed to justify their allegations of him being a “modern-day Hitler” and trying to move this country to an authoritarian state.