Governor Gavin Newsom gave a stern speech Tuesday night that was carried nationally on radio, television and the internet, calling out Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles as "authoritarianism," and saying it was a "perilous moment" for our democracy.

Newsom, clearly looking to establish himself further as a candidate for president in 2028, but also seizing on a moment to call out Trump's authoritarian tactics — which governors in other states fear they will have to face in the future — gave a speech Tuesday reiterating some of what he had already said Sunday night, after a weekend that saw Trump activate the California National Guard without his consent to quell fairly small-scale protests in Los Angeles.

"Trump, without consulting California leaders, commandeered 2,000 of our state's National Guard members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason," Newsom said in the speech. "This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president enflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk."

Putting into context why people had taken to the streets, Newsom described how ICE agents had "jumped" out of unmarked vehicles at a Home Depot parking lot on Saturday in LA and began indiscriminately "grabbing people." And he described a pregnant woman who is a US citizen, and a four-year-old girl also being caught up in the raids.

"Families separated, friends quite literally disappearing," Newsom said.

As CBS News reports, Newsom's speech came shortly after LA Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew in downtown LA that began at 8 pm, which largely curtailed any unrest on Tuesday night.

Newsom called recent ICE activities a "dragnet across all Los Angeles" that is "Well beyond [Trump's] stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals, his agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses."

Referring to the events of Sunday night, Newsom said "several dozen lawbreakers became violent and destructive," and the "situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown" when Trump decided to deploy the National Guard in an obvious act of provocation.

Newsom's speech called on Americans to stand up to Trump, and not to bow to such shows of force.

"What we're witnessing is not law enforcement — it's authoritarianism," Newsom said. "What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him."

Newsom continued, "I ask everyone to take the time to reflect on this perilous moment, a president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetrating a unified assault on American traditions."

As the New York Times notes, Newsom was immediately attacked by Republicans on X, with California Assemblymember and party leader James Gallagher of course invoking the infamous French Laundry incident in 2020, and COVID restrictions at the time. "You are the ultimate authoritarian who shut down restaurants and masked our kids while you went to the French Laundry," Gallagher wrote.

But Newsom is trying to frame the current, relatively small skirmish in LA as a harbinger of worse things to come.

"Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves," Newsom said. "But they do not stop there. Trump and his loyalists thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control."

The strong words and pushback from Newsom will be welcomed, no doubt, by Democrats. And Newsom called out the silent complicity of Republicans in DC as well, saying, "Congress is nowhere to be found," and "Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility. The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don."

Newsom's words come several days before a planned day of protest around the country, this Saturday, themed on the message of "No Kings," to voice objection to Trump's plans for a dicator's style military parade on his birthday, on June 14.

80 of these protests are planned around the Bay Area, including a march from Dolores Park to Civic Center starting around 11:30 am, and a human banner on SF's Ocean Beach starting at 10 am.

On Monday, the state of California filed suit against the Trump administration over what Newsom has called the illegal deployment of federal troops to perform law-enforcement activities. As the Washington Post reports, SF-based U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer denied the state's emergency request for a restraining order on Tuesday, giving the Trump administration until 11 am Wednesday to respond. After that, the state will have until 9 am Thursday to respond to the administration in court before a hearing is held later that day on the matter.

Previously: Gov. Gavin Newsom Says California Will Sue Trump Over Unauthorized National Guard Deployment In LA