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Cal­i­for­nia Gov­er­nor Gavin New­som is­sued a force­ful warn­ing about the state of Amer­i­can democ­ra­cy, say­ing the Unit­ed States is at risk of aban­don­ing long-stand­ing de­mo­c­ra­t­ic norms and le­gal process­es.

New­som said his coun­try was fac­ing a piv­otal mo­ment as Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump con­tin­ues to ex­ert po­lit­i­cal in­flu­ence.

“What hap­pened to due process? What hap­pened to the rule of law?” New­som asked. He em­pha­sised that gov­er­nance must fol­low le­gal struc­tures and ac­count­abil­i­ty. “I’m a lit­tle old-fash­ioned. It’s not ‘ready, fire, aim.’ It’s ‘ready, aim, fire.’ I be­lieve in the rule of law. I don’t be­lieve in the rule of Don, D-O-N,” he said.