California Gov. Gavin Newsom shares fears about the 2028 election and criticizes Trump on Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show.’ By CBS/The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and @GavinNewsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom used his Tuesday appearance on CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to talk up California’s recent move to offer its own vaccine recommendations; his fears that President Donald Trump will cancel elections and not leave office in 2028; a new state ban on police masks; and his recent aping of Trump’s all-caps, frenetic posting style to poke fun at his political opponent online.
He attributed his rising name recognition among national Democrats to California’s willingness to challenge the White House both online and in the courts, at a time when party leaders have struggled to find a cohesive opposition strategy and counter historically low approval rating.
“We got crushed in this last election, and now we’re in a position where we are struggling to communicate. We’re struggling to win back now the majority in the House of Representatives, and that’s a big part of what I’m doing,” Newsom told Colbert. “Not just today in terms of the work out here, raising money, but also raising awareness around how Donald Trump is trying to rig the midterm elections, and how I fear that we will not have an election in 2028.”
The governor, already in New York to attend a weeklong climate conference, doubled down on many of his previous talking points — to thunderous applause from a sympathetic audience — which he has used to gin up support among state voters for Proposition 50, his ballot initiative to redraw California’s congressional districts. Voters will decide whether to approve new districts on Nov. 4.
Newsom also reinforced a previous claim that Trump was using California as a laboratory to enact his “authoritarian tendencies,” like sending Border Patrol agents to the Prop. 50 campaign launch to “intimidate” potential supporters, his illegal seizure of California National Guard members to suppress protests, and request that red-state governors help maintain the GOP’s congressional majority by reinforcing their congressional districts and making them even easier for Republican candidates to win.
“I mean, if some guy jumped out of an unmarked car in a van with a mask on trying to grab me, I mean by definition, you’re going to push back,” Newsom said, referring to a new bill banning immigration officials from obscuring their faces. “And so these are not just authoritarian tendencies, these authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”
The California Democrat is widely expected to run for president in 2028 after he is termed out of state office next year. Since launching his “Yes on 50” campaign, he has leaned on friendly media influencers and celebrities to boost fundraising. On Tuesday, he rolled out an endorsement from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is often floated as a 2028 contender and touted as a progressive, younger alternative to Newsom and his fellow Californian, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Newsom’s 17-minute interview with Colbert ran the same night that late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves after ABC suspended him last week for comments he made following the death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, becoming a flashpoint over free speech. CBS previously said in July it would not renew Colbert’s show after his contract expired next May.
Earlier in the day, Newsom had cheered Kimmel’s return as “a win for free speech everywhere” and thanked “everyone but (Federal Communications Commission chair) Brendan Carr.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 4:32 AM.
