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  • 2 days ago
During a press briefing on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was asked about President Trump's decision to federalize the National Guard amid anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Transcript
00:00with the dialogue with the federal government.
00:02Look at what happened in Texas.
00:03Talk about the National Guard.
00:04I know you're getting 150 of them back,
00:07but if there were to be another fire here,
00:09which could happen at any time,
00:11how Texas kind of shows that we really do need those guard troops.
00:14Well, you've got 5,000 people between those that have been federalized,
00:19the National Guard, men and women, and the U.S. Marines in L.A.,
00:24well, or in armories waiting around for assignments.
00:29They've been taking off the crews
00:33that are doing vegetation and forest management.
00:36Those are our rattlesnake teams.
00:37They've been taking off our counter-narcotics task forces
00:40addressing the issues of fentanyl
00:42and dealing with border-related issues.
00:47These are teachers.
00:48These are firefighters.
00:50I'll repeat that.
00:51The National Guard that have been federalized
00:54are teachers, firefighters, paramedics.
01:02These are folks that are not on the job to protect you
01:06purely for theater and antics.
01:09Less than 20% have been directed for any formal role.
01:14The rest are sitting around doing nothing except feeding,
01:19feeding the ego of the President of the United States,
01:24who is shrinking every single day in the eyes of the American people.
01:31Let them get back home.
01:37Let them get back to work.
01:41Governor, if Trump makes good on his promise to scale back FEMA,
01:45what is California preparing to do to backfill that shortfall?
01:48And do you have any concerns that your relationship with the President
01:51may impact the future of federal assistance for California?
01:55Well, you can't backfill the elimination of FEMA.
01:58There's no state in America, even the most endowed state,
02:03$4.1 trillion a year economy, largest in this nation,
02:09fourth largest in the world.
02:10We don't have the resources to ultimately do that,
02:13but we have increased our discretionary reserves
02:17as a consequence of those concerns,
02:19so we can front-load some of that.
02:21And we were very mindful on the $4.5 billion,
02:24what we refer to as an S-F-E-U,
02:27in our budget of that concern and that question.
02:33And as it relates to working with the President,
02:35I've maintained this posture through other difficult
02:39and challenging times, including COVID.
02:41Open hand, not a closed fist when it comes to emergency preparedness
02:44and emergency planning, recovery, and renewal.
02:47Period, full stop.
02:49That should be non-political.
02:51I maintain that posture in strong support of Governor Abbott
02:55and the people of Texas.
02:57I'll reinforce that in a red state where I'll land this evening
03:01and tomorrow in strong support of their requests in the South.
03:06And I will be there.
03:08We will be there on behalf of the American people,
03:11on behalf of the state of California
03:13and the 40 million Americans that are here.
03:16I believe they enthusiastically want us to be there.
03:18When the next hurricane hits in Florida or Georgia,
03:22we'll be there.
03:24Swift water teams will be there.
03:26Cal Fire will be there.
03:28The investigators will be there.
03:30Across the spectrum, we've sent teams.
03:32The C-130s, if they need them, they'll be there.
03:35That's the spirit that finds the best of this country.
03:38So I expect and hope that despite, as Brad Sherman said,
03:44our interesting differences,
03:45that we can ignite around the things that bind us together.

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