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Gavin Newsom's defiant Trump video goes viral: 'We will stand firm'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's defiant message to President-elect Donald Trump went viral on social media.

Trump's victory in Tuesday's election means that Newsom, a Democrat who may have ambitions on the national stage, is once again poised to be a leading figure in his party's campaign of resistance to Trump's presidential agenda.

“I want our president to succeed,” Newsom said in a video posted Saturday on X, formerly Twitter. “And our job, my job, is not to wake up every day and get a crowbar and try to stick it into the spokes of the Trump administration’s steering wheel.”

“I am not naive either, we are pragmatic and will remain steadfast,” he added.

In the post, which has since received more than 8 million views and 100,000 likes, Newsom referenced Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's mandate for the next Republican administration, calling it the “playbook” and “to-do list.” “ of the elected president.

“They wrote it down for us. 922 pages. With 270 specific points that he has publicly supported,” Newsom wrote in the video’s caption. “If our American values ​​and freedoms are under attack, we will not stand idly by.”

Newsweek contacted Newsom's office and Trump representatives for comment via email.

Gavin Newsom's defiant Trump video goes viral: 'We will stand firm'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, at a news conference at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles on Oct. 27. The governor's video message about President-elect Donald Trump went viral on social media.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

After Trump's victory, Newsom called on California lawmakers to call a special session to protect the state's progressive policies ahead of the Republican's second term in the White House.

On Thursday, Newsom's office said he wanted lawmakers to provide the California attorney general's office with more resources to “pursue robust litigation against unlawful actions by the new Trump administration and defend against federal lawsuits seeking to overturn the laws and policies.” “To undermine California.”

Newsom and lawmakers are ready to make California state laws “Trump-proof,” his office told the Associated Press.

In a Friday post on Truth Social, the president-elect called the Democrat “Governor Gavin Newscum.” He accused Newsom of “trying to KILL California” and “using the term 'Trump-Proof' to stop all the great things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again.'”

Other governors and attorneys general from blue states are also preparing to counter Trump's proposals, including his plan to launch the largest deportation program in the country's history.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said her state would “absolutely not” support the Trump administration on mass deportations, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy spoke of fighting “to the death” against proposals that would contrary to the values ​​of his state.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul has convened a task force to develop strategies to protect New Yorkers in key areas “most likely to face threats from the Trump administration,” including immigration, reproductive rights and civil rights.

“It is Democratic governors who are once again the last line of defense for our rights and values,” Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, said in a statement after Trump’s victory.

She also said, “As we brace for the potential for the same lawlessness and extremism that Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to bring back to the White House, Americans can have confidence in Democratic governors who will continue to stand for basic freedoms and ours.” Enter democracy.”