NEWSOM THREATENS: 2026 IS ABOUT IMPEACHMENT. You know the saying that so-and-so is living rent-free in your head? One online entry defines it as “when someone or something occupies your thoughts excessively, often without a clear reason or benefit.” Under that definition, it can be said without any hesitation that President Donald Trump is currently relaxing in a luxury condo in Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) head.
Newsom, who desperately wants to be president, has taken to composing tweets imitating Trump’s distinctive style, down to using Trump’s favorite words, unusual punctuation, and “Thank you for your attention to this matter!” sign-off. Perhaps Newsom thinks it is funny, and maybe some Democrats agree. Let’s just say Newsom’s imitation doesn’t have the original flair.
Now, Newsom, doing an all-caps Trump impression, has ventured into territory some fellow Democrats don’t want to talk about. Amid the Texas redistricting fight, which some Democrats have unwisely sought to nationalize, Newsom, writing on X, is threatening a new redistricting in California that will, he says, “END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY.” In parentheses immediately after, Newsom added “(DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!)”
So, how can Democrats “end the Trump presidency”? Perhaps Newsom is just saying that a Democratic House victory in the 2026 midterm elections would stop Trump’s legislative initiatives cold, as it most certainly would. But of course, even if that were to happen, Trump would remain president, with all the executive authority involved. His presidency would not end.
A more reasonable reading of what Newsom wrote is that a Democratic House would end the Trump presidency by using the constitutional procedure to end presidencies — impeachment.
Republicans certainly believe that is what would happen should Democrats take the House next year. “Democrats would vote to impeach on their first day,” if they win, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said recently.
Does anyone think that would not happen? Sure, for the moment, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is trying not to talk about impeachment. Some other Democrats, the hardest of the hardcore, favor impeachment right now, even though there is no chance that will happen with the current Republican majority. But if Democrats win a majority, of course, they will impeach.
And now the governor of California, a 2028 presidential contender, sounds like he is itching for it. Newsom’s stance illustrates a particular strain of thinking in the Democratic Party — that if the party just tries one more time to bring Trump down, this time it will work. That was the thinking behind impeachment number one, impeachment number two, and indictments one, two, three, and four, plus other Democratic initiatives that failed to have the desired effect of driving Trump out of politics.
That is not to say that impeachment would not damage Trump. But Newsom, turning himself into a parody of Trump while thinking the same old same old will succeed this time, is a good example of a man with someone else living rent-free in his head.