Trump says California is a ‘Paradise Lost’ that only he can save

COACHELLA, California – Donald Trump cast California as a “Paradise Lost,” at a rally in the Coachella Valley Saturday, blaming Kamala Harris for turning the state into what he described as a hellscape flooded with murderous gangs .

“She’s imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the Third World,” Trump said, donning a red Make America Great Again hat as the 100 degree desert sun beat down on the crowd.

The messaging tracked with the increasingly xenophobic and racist rhetoric he has directed against immigrants who he depicts as criminals.

“Kamala Harris got you into this mess and only Trump is going to get you out of it,” he said.

Trump used the rally location, in the field of a rural valley best known for its annual music festival, to portray a state in decay.

California once had the “best schools, safest communities and a booming middle class,” Trump said, then the state started its dystopian descent when Harris was the district attorney of San Francisco.

“Today California has the highest inflation, the highest taxes, the highest gas prices, the highest cost of living, the most regulations,” he said.

“Really it’s a Paradise Lost but we’re going to bring it back,” he pledged.

He said “mass illegal immigration” is “by far one of the biggest factors in destroying California” and cited anecdotes of violent crimes that have occurred in the state, even though research shows that immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans. Trump said he would get rid of California’s sanctuary cities, which he called “a place where you keep criminals.”

California is often a punching bag for conservatives, who have increasingly sought to tie the state’s homelessness crisis and high cost of living to Harris and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz’s vision for the country. Still, appearing in the deep blue state on a 100 degree day seemed like an odd campaign choice for Trump with only 23 days left before the election to raise money and court voters in swing states.

But the rally site is on the edge of the competitive House district currently held by GOP Rep. Ken Calvert. Of the current six swing seats in the state, Calvert’s is the only one Trump won in 2020. He could be using the California stop to help win the popular vote as it is the nation's most populous state with a high number of registered Republicans.

Calvert spoke ahead of Trump at the rally and the former president briefly acknowledged the congressmember during his nearly 80-minute speech.

“Good job Ken, very good job. Do we have enough people for you? Broke the record. Everybody needs to get out and vote for Ken,” Trump said. He called Calvert’s opponent, former federal prosecutor Will Rollins, a “radical California liberal.”

He made attempts to appeal to the region’s more moderate electorate, saying, “Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, this election is your chance to send a message to the world, the people of California are not going to take it any longer.”

Trump gave shout-outs to other notable Republicans in the crowd including state GOP chair Jessica Millan Patterson, former Fox News host Steve Hilton who’s mulling a bid for California governor and Southern California Sheriff Chad Bianco who is considering another longshot gubernatorial bid.

Trump delivered familiar hits to Rep. Adam Schiff, calling the Democrat who led impeachment hearings against him as president, a “sleazebag” and “shifty.” While Schiff is all but guaranteed to win his Senate race against Republican Steve Garvey, another Los Angeles area Democrat has a closer contest.

Progressive LA District Attorney George Gascon is polling far behind a moderate challenger, with likely voters saying they’re hungry for “change” in the office.

“I don’t know Gascon but I hear he’s down in the polls and that’s a very good thing,” Trump said.

Trump also touched on California environmental policies.

Deploying a favorite pejorative for the state’s governor, Trump blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom for diverting water away from farmers to protect an endangered fish called the Delta Smelt.

“Everybody uses the environment to stop things but we’re not going to let that happen,” Trump said.

He vowed to force Newsom to give California farmers more water and repeated a threat to withhold federal funding for wildfires if the governor didn’t open the spigots.

“We’ll force it down his throat and we’ll say, “Gavin if you don’t do it, we won’t give you any of that fire money for all the forest fires.”

Newsom responded with an X post , saying Trump showed "us exactly who he is—threatening life saving disaster aid to achieve his political goals."

"This man is sick," Newsom wrote.

Trump revisited a common attack on the state’s electric vehicle rules, saying California already has “brownouts and blackouts every weekend, every day” and will be adding too much electricity demand. (The last time there were brief rolling blackouts in the state was 2020).

“I would not allow California politicians to get away with their plan to impose an 100 percent ban on the sale of gas powered cars and trucks,” he said.