California Governor Gavin Newsom will visit Trump strongholds in South Carolina next week, in a two-day trip seen by many as a prelude to a long-rumored 2028 presidential campaign.
The Democrat’s trip to the state, which went for Trump in 2024, will see him visit rural counties, including Pickens County, where the president won 76 percent of the vote last year.
South Carolina has the first Democratic presidential primary on the calendar, and has a large share of Black voters, a core part of the Democratic base.
“Governor Newsom leads the largest economy in America and the fourth largest in the world, and he’s coming to meet folks in towns that have been hollowed out by decades of Republican control,” state Democratic party chair Christale Spain, said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. “This is about building partnerships, uplifting communities, and showing rural voters they aren’t forgotten.”
The trip will see the governor, perhaps the country’s most prominent Democrat outside of Washington, visit settings including cafes, coffee shops, churches, and the Kershaw County Council on Aging, according to an itinerary obtained by the state’s Post and Courier newspaper.
He last visited the state in 2024 to campaign for Joe Biden.
California congressman Ro Khanna will visit South Carolina later this year for an event highlighting those impacted by the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid.
Newsom has a long history of using national campaign-style tactics, even when he’s not running for president, including participating in a 2023 debate with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and paying for critical TV ads in Republican states the year before.
Since Trump return to office, however, the Democrat has shifted into a new gear, embracing a role as one of the most vocal opponents of the new administration.
In June, California sued the Trump administration over its decision to send in National Guard troops in response to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Newsom also gave a speech that month accusing the president of ushering in “authoritarianism” and dared federal officials to arrest him instead of conducting immigration raids against low-level offenders.
The tactic appears to be getting attention in Washington, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to claim in June Newsom ought to be “tarred and feathered.”
In January, as wildfires ravaged Los Angeles, Trump repeatedly, and often inaccurately, alleged that California leaders’ environmental policies were to blame for hydrants running dry.
The following month, the president ordered officials to release billions of gallons of water from reservoirs in the state, a move largely seen as a symbolic gesture with little relation to stopping wildfires.
The fires continue to be a sticking point between Newsom and the administration, and in June President Trump threatened to withhold disaster aid to California in response to the protests.
Elsewhere, Newsom has embraced a pugnacious style and launched a podcast this year which often features conservative guests like activist Charlie Kirk.
The project comes after 2024 Democratic campaigns were criticized for not doing more to leverage the “manosphere” of podcasts and influencers reaching young male voters.
