Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy launched a blistering — and clever — attack on California Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday, comparing him to segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace, a Democrat, and predicting his presidential ambitions will end in “the dustbins of history.”
Ramaswamy, who is running for governor in Ohio, made the sharp comparison during an appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” while discussing the ongoing (reportedly Democrat-funded) riots in Los Angeles and Newsom’s resistance to federal immigration enforcement.
“I know Gavin Newsom. I actually happen to like him as a person,” Ramaswamy said. “The reality is he’s not gonna like what I have to say on this, which is that his behavior is starting to resemble that of another Democratic governor from U.S. history by the name of George Wallace, who was the governor of Alabama, who famously stood in the way of federal desegregation, and in 1963, President John F. Kennedy had to deploy the National Guard of Alabama just like President Trump is doing today.”
Wallace was the Democratic governor who declared “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” and resisted enforcement of federal civil rights laws. In 1963, he famously stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to block the enrollment of African American students, defying a federal court order before Kennedy deployed National Guard troops to force integration.
Ramaswamy argued the parallels between the two Democratic governors were striking, despite the controversial nature of the comparison.
“And I know that’s counterintuitive to some people, but the parallels are actually pretty striking if you think about it,” Ramaswamy continued. “Democrat governors. When you look at George Wallace, he resisted desegregation. Gavin Newsom is resisting deportations. George Wallace wanted segregated cities, Gavin Newsom wants sanctuary cities. George Wallace stood in the school door, blocking the way. Gavin Newsom is blocking the ICE vans.”
The comparison comes as Newsom has mounted fierce opposition to Trump’s deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles following three days of violent anti-ICE riots and looting. Newsom is asking a district court judge to issue an emergency temporary restraining order against the federal deployment, claiming the troops’ presence is escalating tensions.
Ramaswamy characterized both governors’ actions as following Wallace’s political playbook based on their shared presidential ambitions.
“It’s the same Democrat governor playbook,” Ramaswamy said. “You dodge the feds, you rally the radicals, and most importantly of all, you do it in front of the cameras, because what they were both doing is really carving their Democratic primary path for their presidential ambitions.”
“And Jesse, you can mark my words on this one, Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions are gonna end in the same place that George Wallace’s did: in the dustbins of history where it belongs,” Ramaswamy concluded. “That’s just the truth.”
The attack comes as Newsom has positioned himself as a Trump critic and leading 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. Indeed, Newsom made what critics called his first presidential campaign speech Tuesday night, though it began with audio problems and featured false accusations that Trump was “disappearing” people through deportations.
Newsom vowed that resistance to federal law would spread beyond California to other Democrat-controlled cities, a prediction that materialized with violence erupting in Chicago, San Antonio, and New York City.
The historical comparison is apt, conservative point out. Wallace resisted federal desegregation efforts in the 1960s, while Newsom is resisting federal deportation operations in 2025, requiring the president to deploy National Guard troops to enforce federal law and maintain order.
In 1963, Kennedy ordered the National Guard to force integration at the University of Alabama after Wallace’s defiant stand. Two years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson federalized National Guard troops to protect civil rights activists in Alabama after state troopers had harassed them.
Newsom has positioned California as a sanctuary state and said California law enforcement will resist federal immigration enforcement efforts.