California’s current political brawl has pitted two of its most high-profile governors, one past, one present, against each other. Sitting governor Gavin Newsom, who has been on a fiery crusade against Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, just caught a haymaker from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Hollywood icon turned politician, who led the state from 2003 to 2011, isn’t impressed with Newsom’s latest plan to counteract Trump’s influence. After Trump encouraged lawmakers across the nation, particularly in Texas, to enact gerrymandering laws to boost Republican seats in Congress, Newsom responded with his own idea: California might do the opposite to compensate.
I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle. pic.twitter.com/Lbgr1bnGw8
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) August 15, 2025
But Schwarzenegger, who once distanced himself from Trump and his MAGA agenda, wasn’t about to let that slide. He took to Instagram with a blunt message: “F— the politicians. Terminate gerrymandering.” The post, accompanied by his trademark flex in the gym, was more than a jab at Trump; it was aimed straight at Newsom, too.
His longtime chief of staff, Daniel Ketchell, made it crystal clear. Schwarzenegger’s stance isn’t partisan; it’s about principle. “Governor Schwarzenegger has a 20-year history of battling gerrymandering, taking power from the politicians and returning it to the people where it belongs, and he believes gerrymandering is evil no matter who does it,” Ketchell said. He doubled down with a schoolyard lesson fit for Sacramento: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
That doesn’t mean Schwarzenegger is cozying up to Trump. Far from it. He famously broke with his own party’s leader, endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024 and blasting Trump as a man who would “divide, insult, and find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been.” The former governor’s latest fight is consistent; he hates gerrymandering, no matter whose hands are on the pen.
Newsom, on the other hand, is standing his ground. He admits gerrymandering is generally dirty politics, but argues this moment is different. For him, it’s a fight fire with fire scenario. One of his top allies, Courtni Pugh, defended the governor’s controversial push to redraw districts, calling it “a five-alarm fire for our democracy.” She said Trump and his Texas allies are already trying to rig the 2026 election before a single ballot has even been cast, leaving California with little choice but to respond.
Schwarzenegger isn’t budging. He told reporters that while his differences with Newsom don’t hurt their personal relationship, he won’t back down on a promise he made to Californians years ago. “I hate the idea of the Republicans redrawing the district lines in Texas, as much as I hate what the Californians are trying to do,” he said.
“But I’m thinking now about California, and about the people of California. I promised them that we are going to create a commission that would be independent of the politicians, and there will be an independent citizens’ commission drawing the lines. So I’m not going to go back on my promise. I’m going to fight for my promise.”
With Schwarzenegger on the attack and Newsom refusing to retreat, the stage is set for a political showdown worthy of Hollywood. The question now: who will California voters side with, the man fighting gerrymandering on principle, or the governor who says desperate times call for desperate measures?
