Newsom uses Fourth of July address to attack Trump ahead of midterms: ‘He doesn’t care about you!’

The eight-minute speech, released Saturday, had been previewed by Newsom's office a day earlier with excerpts centered on election policy. When delivered in full, the address focused largely on Trump, his administration, and the state of politics heading into the 2026 elections.

Newsom claimed the president is worried about what voters will decide in November. “The American people will go to the polls, and President Trump knows what’s coming,” Newsom said. “And, because he knows that, he is afraid for himself. He doesn’t care about you, he doesn’t care about America, and he hardly cares about his own political party.”

The California governor also accused Trump of using the presidency for personal financial gain, saying: “He has added more than $4 billion to his personal fortune while sitting in what is supposed to be a public trust. He told you he was going to drain the swamp, but he gave it a presidential suite.”

Newsom added, “He is degrading the concept of American self-government in a way that no king and no foreign power has ever managed to do.”

The speech also revisited Trump's challenge to the 2020 presidential election results, the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and the administration's deployment of the National Guard to California and other states during protests last year. Newsom additionally criticized the US Supreme Court, arguing it had failed to check actions taken by the Trump administration.

Referring again to the president, Newsom said, “A man like Trump does not lose gracefully. He grabs every lever of power within reach, cheats, lies, and steals to hold on.”

Newsom closed the address by comparing opposition to Trump with historic political movements, including the fight for women's suffrage and the civil rights movement.