🚨 Fox anchor drops BOMBSHELL anti-Trump news

I'm joined now by the anchor at Fox LA, Alex Michaelson. Alex, thanks for joining me.

Thank you, Brian. On my last day as the anchor at Fox LA. So that's the last time I'm going to be

introduced as that. That's right. Got you in just under the wire here. Well, I wanted to talk to you in particular because we have a big day for California. And as everybody who listens to the show, watches the show, knows Alex is the guy when it comes to California politics. So we have new maps that have just been revealed that show Democrats shoring up about four endangered Democratic seats, lean Democratic seats, but also flipping about five Republican seats. So this may be a nine seat gain in total. So first and foremost, what's the sense on the Republican side of the aisle in light of what we're seeing right now?

While Republicans are furious, right? I mean, this is a situation where all these long term members of Congress are essentially going to most likely lose their jobs. Yeah. So the members that are most at risk of losing their jobs are Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley, Darrell Issa, David Valadao, most likely to be out of a gig because of this.

And so they are angry. Kevin Kiley, who is one of Governor Newsom's strongest opponents every single day, seems to tweet about him every single day, ran against him in the recall. He has put forward a motion in the House to try to say,

let's have nobody redistrict. Texas don't do this, California don't do this, stop. This is a bad idea, you know, as a way to potentially save his own job. But it doesn't seem like Speaker Mike Johnson or the Republicans in the House are interested in doing that.

Why? Because Donald Trump's not interested in doing that. He's made a very clear directive that he thinks that he deserves or his words entitled to five Republican seats in Texas. And so Governor Newsom is saying, OK, well, if you're going to do that, we're going to take five Republican seats out of California to, in Governor Newsom's words, neuter what's happening in Texas.

But isn't this just dripping in bad faith that suddenly when only when these California representatives, these Republicans from California face face their own districts being being redrawn? Are they are they protesting what's happening? I mean, really, this wouldn't happen if it wasn't for Donald Trump and Greg Abbott listening to Donald Trump. So again, isn't it in really bad faith

that suddenly they're mad at California for redrawing these maps when this was all launched just a few weeks earlier by people from their own party?

Well, I was at this press conference yesterday with Governor Newsom and with several different members of the Democratic Congressional Caucus and I asked them about that and then member after member stepped up to make that very point. Sidney Komloger Dove, the Democrat from Culver City said, stop crying crocodile tears Kevin Kiley. Where have you been on this issue all the long? Where were you when the John Lewis

Voting Rights Act was up? Why didn't you vote for that? Basically saying that they don't buy that he's all of a sudden interested in this issue because it hurts him publicly. Maxine Waters, a Democratic Congresswoman,

stepped up and said, look, we're gonna take Texas's playbook and throw it right back at them. We're gonna fight on this. Adam Schiff telling me, you know, don't poke the bear, Texas, don't mess with California.

So it is interesting, and you were out there as well. I was out there yesterday and we've seen a real unified democratic apparatus in California. And the governor seems to have brought together every sort of special interest group in California that matters in California politics.

So who are the most powerful players in California politics? The teachers union, the SEIU union, the, you know, the IBEW, all of these forces that help fund campaigns, all of them were part of Governor Newsom's launch, all of them speaking at Governor Newsom's launch. You had local members, you had, in terms of, you had the congressional members, you had the senators, you had members of the

assembly, members of the state senate, all of them behind it. And California has a two-thirds supermajority in both the Assembly and the Senate. I talked to the leaders of both of those chambers. They say they have the votes. This thing's gonna happen. And it has to happen by next Friday.

Alex, are Republicans right now, not just in California, but nationwide given this development, are they on their heels by virtue of what's happening in California?

Well, maybe, maybe not. And this is something that I talked about with Governor Newsom. I'm sure it's something that you talked about with him as well, because, look, there are more Republican states that you could gerrymander than Democratic states. And so even if Texas goes forward with this and California goes forward with their plan to in the governor's words, neuter them, what happens if Florida gerrymanders more?

What happens if Missouri, what happens if some of these other states jump on this train? And then Democrats would be potentially on the defensive. So you know, this thing escalating may not be good for the Democratic Party.

Do you sense that there's a sea change happening right now in terms of Democrats taking Newsom's lead and actually fighting fire with fire? And I ask that as a long time Democrat who has watched this party fail to meet the moment with the urgency that it deserves on numerous occasions.

Like we watch Republicans screw over Democrats over and over and over and over and over and over and over and nothing ever seems to change. We just continue to be the party of strongly worded letters until this very moment where we actually have some some forward-leaning action against the Republicans. So do you think that there is some sense of a sea change among what's needed for Democrats

to succeed in this new environment?

Well, I will say one thing. We got to give Susan Collins credit for strongly worded letters. That's right. She's very good at that.

She was she was doing it before it before it was even cool. Susan Collins was expressing concern.

So there's some bipartisanship on the strongly worded letter thing. Look, Governor Newsom has clearly made a calculation that the party has been too weak for too long and that Democrats, especially a lot of the people that watch your show, are desperate for a fighter. It's a calculation he made before. He made it back in 2022,

after the Roe v. Wade was overturned and he came out doing interviews with people like me saying, where the hell is the Democratic Party? I don't know where the party is. The party's not fighting. And then he sort of backed off that some as he supported Biden and Harris and all the rest. But now that there is no clear leader of the Democratic Party, Gavin Newsom is making a strong play to be that leader. And he believes that people in the party are sick and tired of people sitting on the sidelines.

What he said to me in my interview with him was, look, Trump, I think, is surprised by this because he's used to our party not doing anything. Our party spending a lot of time focused on candlelight vigils and saying the right things, but not actually punching back. And he wants to do this. And if you see based off of his social media numbers going way up, his fundraising going way up, his poll numbers going up with the democratic base, it seems to be working.

And you think about it, and obviously I've got a little bit of a skewed view because I'm here in California and I cover this a lot and I interact with him a lot, but you don't see very many Democratic leaders doing something similar. I think J.B. Pritzker in Illinois has been outspoken on this front, but many of the other governors have been much more

in the background. And even some of the top presidential candidates, you think about Wes Moore, you think about Josh Shapiro, they have not been as frankly clear in terms of action in their states. Now, they don't have as big a majorities to work with and there's nuance to all of that, but Newsom has clearly dominating the scene.

He was, his speech yesterday, not only streamed live by you and our friends at Midas Touch and all over the internet, but was carried live by CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel all at the same time. It was the lead story on all of the cable networks. And so he has emerged as the leader of the party on this issue, the biggest state in

the union, the biggest state with an ability to redistrict. And I think it's very helpful for him politically.

Well, you know, he's also been able to do something that you really can't fake and that's to garner media attention. I mean, there are a lot of Democrats who try to get themselves out there and they just can't get it.

I mean, they just don't have it, right? Like the X factor, the same way that Donald Trump can open his mouth and people turn and listen. Gavin Newsom is very much able to do the same thing right now and it's gonna make for an interesting dynamic as we head toward obviously 2026, but then later in 2028 because being able to dominate in this media environment and in these news cycles is really gonna be

the whole ball game because we don't live in a world where you can just kind of do what Joe Biden did, which is run on this idea that we want politics to be boring again. We don't want to think about the president as much as Democrats want to yearn for that world. That world is behind us. And so now you either have to adapt or die.

Basically a new semester showing that he can adapt. And look at what he did, you know, just this week. So he makes that announcement. He sits down with me, he sits down with you, he sits down with Midas Touch and Pod Save America and Heather Cox Richardson. His speech is broadcast live on all the cable networks.

It was the lead story on almost all of the local networks that I saw here. So amplify those numbers. I mean even just from your stuff, I mean it's hundreds of thousands, but you keep amplifying and adding and adding and adding and adding. That's millions and millions of impressions for his message at a time when very few people are breaking through in terms of messaging. I mean Newsom is doing

something interesting and the news, as a reporter in the news who covers politics tends to follow something interesting. The reason Trump got so much quote-unquote free media attention in 2016 is he put on a great show you know because I remember covering that as a reporter at the time and you would cover a Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush stump speech and they would say the same exact thing every single day over and over again.

It wasn't that interesting the first time and it certainly wasn't interesting the sixth time. What Donald Trump was doing at the time when Bill O'Reilly was the number one show in cable, he was essentially doing his own version of the O'Reilly factor, which what do you do to get in the news? You comment on the news. You get involved in the news cycle

You put yourself in it and Newsom has learned that that from Trump To be a part of all of the biggest stories and get yourself included in the conversation Which is what he's doing now It runs the risk of potential overexposure And it also runs a risk with he's doing this like if the Democrats lose this race in California for this redistricting thing like that's a huge egg on his face yeah so he's got to win this thing it's not a hundred percent clear that he's going to

and and when you become the face of something and it fails it can be really problematic so we'll see there's gonna be hundreds of millions of dollars spent on this campaign in the in the coming months and I think the whole country is going to be focused on what happens in California.

Well, to that point, um, you know, and this is coming from me, not from you, but for folks who are looking to donate to this effort, I'm going to put the link on the screen and also in the post description. If you're listening on the podcast, I'll put it in the show notes. take a lot of money to counteract what Republicans are doing in this broader effort to push forward this redistricting. So if you're looking to contribute and help a worthy cause, and there is no cause more worthy than this, please contribute what you can.

And to that point, one of the things that I was most struck with and that I learned from my interview with governor Newsom this week, I asked him because, because I am ending at Fox 11, I've interviewed more than anybody in the state. It was our final interview for my show, The Issue Is, after seven and a half years of literally dozens and dozens of interviews, I said, how have you changed over the years? And he said that the recall attempt in 2021 changed him,

and he's a completely different person now. And what he learned in that moment is that all politics isn't local, like he thought. At this moment, in his words, all politics is national. And he sees that there's these national forces that are getting involved in funding these battles,

even at the local level, and trying to get their way. And so this redistricting thing, even though it's in California, is very much a national fight with the national interest and a whole lot of national money is gonna be coming in, especially on the Republican side.

And I'm not making a pitch one way or another because I'm not allowed to, but if you're particularly interested one way or another, it may be worth sending some money.

Yeah, I mean, look, I'm making the pitch, I'm allowed to. So highly recommend. I mean, look, if'm making the pitch. I'm allowed to. I highly recommend. I mean, look, if your issue is climate change, health care, reproductive rights, gun violence, whatever it may be, all of that depends on having a government where Democrats are allowed to participate, where we're allowed to function, where the maps are not scientifically engineered so that Democrats can't win. And that's what Republicans are moving toward right now. So regardless of what your pet political issue is, it all relies on having a house that Democrats are able to win. And so that's why it's so important that Democrats

fight back here, fight fire with fire, and actually make sure that we can neutralize, neuter, what Republicans are doing in Texas and what they very well may be doing in Missouri, Indiana and Florida. So again, I'm going to put the link on the screen and in the post description of this video. Alex, you did mention that you have interviewed Gavin Newsom more than any other California reporter. And so, you know, you spoke to Newsom about what, how he changed since the recall to right

now. But what have you seen in over the years in terms of interviewing him and what you've seen from, you know, from the beginning up until right now.

And how he's changed? Yes.

I think he has a totally different perception of how media works and how to communicate to people. I thought him admitting that all politics is national is really interesting. Obviously, he's become more focused on the national scene after he won his elections in California and clearly is at least considering running for president. And so he's changed.

But he's very focused in the digital space in a way that very few politicians are. The fact that he did one local news interview, but did six or seven digital interviews yesterday and did no other television interviews shows you where he thinks the action is.

Gavin Newsom, as I've learned over the years, is very, very focused on metrics, on how things are performing. He looks at the numbers on a lot of different things. And I think he knows where people are. And so he's gotten much sharper, much blunter.

And in the last six months, he's gotten much angrier, honestly. And he talked about this. I mean, when I saw him after the fires and the ice raids in L.A., it was the angriest I'd ever seen him. And he would say that he sort of left that experience saying,

I've got no regrets. I'm going to lay it all out there. And he is a different kind of person.

Well, zooming out a little bit, you mentioned that this is your last day at Fox 11, Fox LA, and you've been serving this community, my community, for years and years and years. And so I'm curious, as you look back on your years at Fox LA and prior to moving on to your next step, what are you looking at in terms of the highlights of your own time at Fox LA?

I mean, one of the greatest moments was bringing Brian Tyler Cohen on television for the first time, right? But in all seriousness, I am so lucky that this show has given me the ability to meet so many of my best friends, including you. That having this platform and having this excuse to talk to people and meet such smart

and interesting people from both sides, I mean, that one of my best friends is Bill Mellusian, who obviously is a straight news reporter, but clearly has a different perspective than Brian Tyler Cohen. I love that there's been this place to interact with people and to have interesting

conversations and at a time of so much partisanship and so much division where people can actually talk to each other and actually listen. And I think one of the reasons that we've done that is we've played music and games and other things that in some ways feel silly, but really break

down some of the barriers and allow for a conversation. And I think that that's really important these days. I mean, obviously these issues are really important and there are some principles that you can't, you know, compromise on. I understand that. But also as a country, I think we need to lessen the temperature a little bit on some

of this stuff. And so the ability to do that has really been incredible. And we've gotten a chance to just travel the world and talk to some of the most interesting players. I mean, on our final episode, we have videos from Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla, Karen Bass, Rick

Caruso, I mean, all the biggest players in California politics of that whole era. And they've been such a such an important part of the show that they all came back for the final episode. And so my heart is full of gratitude of being able to do this.

Well, look, Alex, I know I can speak for all those people in terms of saying that the reason that you're able to bring all of these people together is because of you. It's because you're acting in good faith and because you've been so kind, honest, full of integrity and generous in terms of what you've turned that show and that network into. So, you'd mentioned that you were the first person to bring me on air. It was the first show that I was ever on. So I thank you for that. But more broadly, I know I can speak for the city of Los Angeles and the state of California in saying thank you for, you know, the service that you've provided. And that is having you on air delivering us the news in a way that, again, is full of honesty and integrity

and good faith. So congratulations on your final day at Fox Los Angeles. And I'm very excited to see what the next steps in your career are. Alex, thanks for your time.

And if people want to watch that last episode, which includes a cameo from Brian Tyler Cohen, you can go to youtube.com slash Alex Michelson. And you can also check out our interview with Governor Newsom there from this week. And I'd appreciate if you check that out and subscribe and stay along for the journey.

Excellent, yes. And I would also echo that sentiment. If you wanna keep up with Alex in his life after Fox LA, please subscribe on YouTube. It's E-L-E-X, Michelson, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-S-O-N, and that's on YouTube. And I'm gonna put that link right here on the screen and also in the post description. Alex, appreciate your time.

Thank you, Brian. Love you, brother. Love you, brother.

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