Newsom Uses Annual State Address to Confront Republicans Across the Nation

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, whose liberal state has been hammered by Republicans for months as a hellscape of homelessness, crime and high taxes, used his annual State of the State address on Tuesday to slam “conservatives and delusional California bashers” and defend “the California way of life.”

Rather than appear before a joint session of the State Legislature, Mr. Newsom prerecorded his speech and posted it on social media, directing his message at least as much to a national audience as to Californians. It came two days before former President Donald Trump and President Biden were scheduled to debate in Atlanta, where Mr. Newsom was expected to appear in the so-called spin room as a feisty surrogate.

In his remarks, which hinted at arguments Mr. Biden is likely to touch upon on Thursday, Mr. Newsom presented the Democratic policies that are California’s hallmark as an “antidote to the poisonous populism of the right.”

Mr. Newsom, 56, has been among the president’s most visible supporters, and has long contended that Democrats have underestimated the hostility of the MAGA Republican movement. He has been viewed as a future presidential candidate and has seemed to relish challenging conservatives head on.

“They want to impeach the very things that have made us successful, as a tactic to turn America toward a darker future,” Mr. Newsom said, comparing the current political climate to the spread of fascism in the 1930s.

“We are presented with a choice between a society that embraces our values and a world darkened by division and discrimination. The economic prosperity, health, safety and freedom that we enjoy are under assault.”