In a political gesture to match Trump’s own, many political gestures, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he was deploying the National Guard, like he did during the pandemic, to support food banks in California.
While we await a potential attempt to deploy National Guard troops in San Francisco for no reason outside of Trump’s ego and vindictiveness — and his love of orchestrating grand dramas on television — Governor Gavin Newsom made a pointed announcement Wednesday about how he’ll use the Guard for a humanitarian effort, while families who depend on government benefits are potentially going hungry amid the shutdown.
“I’m expediting state funds for food banks and directing the California National Guard and California Volunteers to help distribute this food to families,” Newsom said in a statement. “As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, California is working to ensure CalFresh recipients don’t go hungry while food prices are spiking under President Trump.”
Newsom aimed the announcement squarely at the president and congressional Republicans, saying, “Trump’s failure isn’t abstract — it’s literally taking food out of people’s mouths. This is serious, this is urgent — and requires immediate action. Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps.”
In a tweet Wednesday, Newsom added, “Donald Trump is using millions of Americans as political pawns. It’s disgusting.”
While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in favor of the Trump administration in its effort to federalize the National Guard and deploy troops to quell a small protest in Portland, Oregon, that deployment has not yet occurred. The administration is simultaneously arguing in court over a similar effort in Chicago, and the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on that case, which could settle the matter for all jursidictions where Trump is trying to impose his will.
On Tuesday, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu made clear that the city would take legal action in response to any deployment of the National Guard here. The city joined in an amicus brief that was sent to the Supreme Court in the Chicago case by mayors and officials in 109 jurisdictions.
Newsom subsequently tweeted a similar message from the state level.
“Deploying troops into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no oversight, no accountability, and no respect for state sovereignty is a direct assault on the rule of law,” Newsom wrote. “If Donald Trump invades our state again, California will sue immediately.”
As KRON4 notes, use of the National Guard to do humanitarian work at food banks was something that happened in the early weeks of the pandemic in 2020.
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