Mike Madrid, a Latino GOP political consultant, has identified who he believes scares Donald Trump the most. In a Substack post published Monday, he wrote that the president has a new “public enemy No. 1” who has repeatedly criticized his administration’s policies.
“Donald Trump may have just made Eric Swalwell the most important Democrat in America,” Madrid wrote.
Although the lawmaker has not been accused of wrongdoing, he previously faced scrutiny over contact with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. Recently, FBI Director Kash Patel has pushed for the public release of related files.
“When the most powerful man in the world deploys the full machinery of federal law enforcement against a California gubernatorial candidate running in a crowded primary that few are paying attention to, he’s doing more than just punching down,” Madrid wrote on Substack. “He’s telling you exactly who he’s afraid of.”
Donald Trump and Kash Patel do not get to pick the next governor. Californians do. pic.twitter.com/zhWh3CXvnF
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) March 28, 2026
Swalwell, who has entered the crowded race for California governor, has frequently condemned the Trump administration.
Madrid argued that Trump’s actions may unintentionally elevate Swalwell’s profile at a time when Democrats are still searching for a clear front-runner. “The race has lacked a gravitational center—a candidate capable of generating the kind of national attention that transforms a primary into a movement,” Madrid wrote. “Trump just provided one.”
“Trump may have just solved the Democratic Party’s primary problem for them. There is something both sinister and almost poetically stupid about this moment,” he added, suggesting the president’s efforts to damage Swalwell’s reputation may have backfired.
“Sometimes the greatest gift a tyrant can give his opposition is his fear,” Madrid wrote. “Trump is telling the country that his fear is focused on one man at the moment, and that man is Eric Swalwell.”
There’s only one candidate that Donald Trump fears will be the next governor of California. pic.twitter.com/pFq90mFO6a
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) March 29, 2026
In his Substack post, Madrid further argued that the president understands the potential implications of a Swalwell victory.
“A Swalwell governorship would hand Democrats something they desperately need: a national platform for the resistance rooted in the largest state in the union,” he wrote. “It would be occupied by a man who has already proven he will spend every waking hour making Donald Trump’s life difficult.”
Madrid added that a Swalwell administration would pose a unique challenge. “With California’s budget, its bully pulpit, its legal firepower and its 39 million residents, [it] would be an adversary unlike anything Trump has faced from a state executive,” he wrote.
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