Newsom Mocks Trump DOJ After Embarrassing Typo in Major Election Lawsuit
California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Donald Trump’s Department of Justice on Thursday after the agency made a glaring typo in a lawsuit that could shape which party controls the House next year.
The DOJ announced it was joining a Republican-backed legal challenge seeking to stop the implementation of new congressional district maps that voters approved last week under Proposition 50. The California GOP filed the original suit, claiming Democrats relied on racial demographics when drawing the new lines—giving Hispanic communities an unfair advantage—and arguing the maps were a rushed overhaul of the state’s districts.
“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement revealing the DOJ’s involvement. She accused Newsom of trying to lock in Democratic dominance and disenfranchise millions of voters.
Newsom fired back immediately on X: “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”
But the governor also highlighted a major mistake in the DOJ’s filing.
The lawsuit’s opening sentence claims the “California General Assembly” used race to advance political goals through Prop 50—a body that doesn’t exist in the state. X user Vance Ulrich pointed out that California lawmakers serve in a State Assembly, not a “General Assembly,” which is North Carolina’s legislative body.
Newsom’s press office quickly amplified the blunder, posting: “When Trump’s hand-picked hacks at DOJ can’t tell California from North Carolina, you know the lawsuit is about as credible as Trump’s ‘I don’t know Epstein’ line.”
Despite the mockery, Bondi doubled down in an appearance on Hannity later that night, accusing California Democrats of openly using race to engineer new congressional seats. “They’re trying to create seats based on race and they can’t do it,” she said. “We will continue suing California until they comply with the laws of our country.”
Prop 50, championed by Newsom, was widely seen as a response to Texas Republicans reshaping their voting map to secure five additional seats ahead of the 2026 midterms—an election that could determine control of the House. Trump has already railed against California’s new map, calling the vote “RIGGED” on Truth Social and branding the redistricting process “a GIANT SCAM.”
The passage of Prop 50 has also raised Newsom’s national profile as a potential Democratic presidential contender. Asked on CBS Sunday Morning if he was seriously weighing a post-midterms campaign, the governor replied, “Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise.”
The DOJ argues California’s new district lines violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, blasted the maps as “unlawful and unconstitutional,” insisting federal officials are acting quickly to stop them from being used in future elections. “California is free to draw congressional maps,” he said, “but they may not be drawn based on race.”
The DOJ also quoted Jesus A. Osete, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, who echoed the lawsuit's opening claim—typo and all—saying the “California General Assembly” improperly used race to drive political outcomes. The suit alleges voters were presented with an illegal, racially gerrymandered proposal that cannot be used in 2026 or beyond.