Newsom Sentiment Tanks with Anti-ICE Riots and Chaos

June 10, 2025
Border Security Crime Mainstream Media

Newsom Sentiment Tanks with Anti-ICE Riots and Chaos image

Key Takeaways

  • Public sentiment toward Gavin Newsom tanked over the weekend as voters express rage toward leadership credibility in California and Los Angeles.
  • Anti-ICE protests ignite a narrative war that reframes immigration as a proxy for national legitimacy and institutional failure.
  • Both parties are attempting to capitalize on the unrest, but voters react with distrust, disillusionment, and a growing appetite for decisive, unfiltered authority. 

Our Methodology

Demographics

All Voters

Sample Size

70,000

Geographical Breakdown

National

Time Period

3 Days

MIG Reports leverages EyesOver technology, employing Advanced AI for precise analysis. This ensures unparalleled precision, setting a new standard. Find out more about the unique data pull for this article. 

The Los Angeles ICE protests damaged public trust in both state leadership and federal enforcement. Following chaos over the weekend, the story quickly became a national flashpoint, exposing the breakdown of institutional trust across party lines. Figureheads on both sides like Gavin Newsom and Tom Homan draw sharp criticism from the opposition.

Timeline and Trigger Events

The protests started as a response to a coordinated immigration enforcement campaign by the Trump administration. Discussion around deportations escalated as anti-ICE protesters took to the streets.

  • Federal ICE actions spark backlash. Viral footage of arrests and aggressive enforcement tactics, fueling protests at detention centers and federal buildings.
  • Protest optics intensify the narrative war. Rioters waving Mexican flags, chanting anti-American slogans, and destroying police cars. Creating national controversy.
  • Allegations of coordination. Online discourse flags possible NGO involvement, raising suspicions that the protests are neither spontaneous nor civilian-driven.

Trump moves swiftly:

  • National Guard debate. Trump offers to send federal troops to support ICE operations and secure federal property, stirring hysteria among Democrats.
  • Tom Homan goes scorched earth. Homan warns protestors obstructing enforcement: “You will be detained, and you will be deported.”

Newsom sentiment tanks:

  • Newsom dares arrest. In a press event, Newsom declares, “Let them arrest me,” positioning himself as a martyr figure. But the performance draws more ridicule.
  • Credibility collapses. As looting and street chaos spread, Newsom’s calls for calm appear disconnected from reality. Democrats and the media deny violence and vandalism, drawing incredulity from the public.

Online Reactions to the Protests

Public reactions are overwhelmingly negative, sweeping up Republican figures like Trump and Homan in negativity toward ICE. But liberal leaders like Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass are also receiving severe backlash.

There is outrage, fear, and exhaustion in public discussion. The debate over immigration enforcement exploded into a broader reckoning with civic order and national identity. Each ideological bloc responds according to its core worldview, but a shared undercurrent emerges that no one believes the system is functioning as it should.

On the right, people describe the events as “a riot by foreign nationals,” fueled by open borders policies and Democratic complicity. Footage of protestors waving Mexican flags, looting stores, and setting fire to federal property goes viral as outrage ramps up.

  • Terms like “invasion,” “anarchy,” and “domestic terrorism” dominate right leaning discourse.
  • There are renewed calls for mass deportations, ICE raids, and full use of federal authority, including the Insurrection Act.
  • A subset of right-leaning voices glorifies vigilantism, invoking imagery from the 1992 LA riots—most notably the “Rooftop Koreans” meme.

On the left, pundits frame the protests as moral resistance to an authoritarian crackdown. Activists and progressive influencers claim immigration enforcement is being used as a political weapon. Trump and Homan are cast as agents of state repression.

  • The rhetoric shifts toward warnings of fascism and ethnic cleansing.
  • Narratives emphasize historical injustices, with some claiming the land “was stolen from Mexico” and framing ICE as an occupying force.
  • However, even among progressive circles, concerns emerge about the optics—particularly the aggressive imagery and potential alienation of swing voters.

Among Independents and disengaged moderates, the response is more cynical. There is little support for the protest tactics, but there is equal skepticism toward state and federal responses.

  • Many frame the protests as a breakdown of order caused by years of leadership failure.
  • These voices often express disgust with both parties, seeing the entire incident as a sign that no one is in control.
  • However, despite media and Democratic criticism, Trump’s public support on immigration is holding strong.

Media and Democratic Response

Legacy media coverage of the ICE protests amplifies the fragmentation already visible in public sentiment. Progressive outlets frame the unrest as a justified reaction to heavy-handed federal enforcement or downplay it.

Democratic leaders struggle to maintain narrative discipline. Gavin Newsom’s media appearances—ranging from defiant press conferences to vague condemnations of violence—land poorly. His now-infamous “let them arrest me” line is widely mocked, not only by conservatives but also by moderates who view it as theatrical and unserious.

Media coverage aligned with the Democratic establishment compounds the problem:

  • Footage of foreign flags, looted businesses, and ICE buses under siege are ignored or reframed as “community pushback,” which alienates Californians.
  • Conservative discourse highlights this as proof that the media is protecting the left, reinforcing accusations of a coordinated narrative shield.

Meanwhile, local Democratic figures scramble to convince the public that local law enforcement has everything under control.

Even left-leaning voters grow restless. A subset of liberal voices warns that the party’s handling of the protests could cost them Independents and alienate working-class voters who fear rising disorder.

Ideological Narrative Split

Public discourse follows ideology, each side interpreting the same events according to predefined beliefs. Discourse is not a debate, but a tripartite split in how Americans perceive reality—each group assigns blame, defines legitimacy, and interprets violence in ways that reinforce its worldview.


For the Right, the protests validate long-held warnings about open borders, leftist chaos, and Democrat-run cities. They also view the riots as potentially astroturfed or coordinated by activist groups. The right mocks media coverage for downplaying threats and deliberately obscuring the facts on the ground.

Progressives elevate the protests as necessary resistance to a creeping authoritarian state. They view ICE as inherently illegitimate and see the federal response—particularly Trump’s use of the National Guard—as confirmation of a racist, fascist agenda. Their frustration does extend to liberal leaders like Newsom for doing nothing.

Independents increasingly express fatigue with the entire political structure. They see a system incapable of maintaining order or delivering truth. In their view, the media manipulates, elected officials posture, and the public pays the price.

Collapse of Leadership Symbols

The ICE protests accelerate a trend already in motion where American trust in leadership is quickly decaying. While both right and left leaning figures drew volatile responses, liberal leaders are getting the brunt of public anger.

Tom Homan and Gavin Newsom both took a sentiment hit after the weekend, but Newsom dropped to 35% support while Homan only fell to 41%.

Homan’s no-nonsense posture and unapologetic stance win praise from law-and-order voters who see the protests as taking advantage of soft law enforcement under Democrats. Gavin Newsom suffers stronger public wrath. His sentiment decline comes atop already-low trust levels. Newsom remains the poster child for failed governance—a man more concerned with optics than outcomes.

Broader Political Fallout

The fallout from anti-ICE protests extends far beyond California. Initially a localized confrontation, these events are causing the political class scrambling to reorient, but the public has already drawn conclusions.

On the right, the protests reignite calls for uncompromising immigration enforcement.

  • Expect a surge in proposals for mass deportations, expanded ICE operations, and executive crackdowns on sanctuary cities.
  • GOP-aligned influencers push the narrative that California has become a failed state—an emblem of what happens when ideology trumps enforcement.

On the left, the protests expose the limits of Democrats' grip on their own coalition.

  • Democratic leaders struggle to control the messaging, caught between condemning disorder and signaling support for “the cause.”
  • The fracture between party leadership and grassroots activists widens as activists want open confrontation while elected officials issue tepid statements.

This tension creates strategic confusion heading into the 2026 elections. Democrats risk alienating moderates who crave stability while failing to satisfy far left progressives.

Independents—already skeptical—grow more disillusioned.

  • Online discussion among swing voters reflects a mix of fear and disgust, with phrases like “no one’s in charge” and “collapse of authority.”
  • The longer the protests drag on without resolution, the more these voters drift toward any candidate promising decisive action, regardless of partisanship.

Stay Informed

More Like This

  • 12

    Jun

    Simone Biles on the Wrong Side of Women’s Sports image

    Simone Biles on the Wrong Side of Women’s Sports

    American Values Culture

    Read More

  • 09

    Jun

    Elon Musk Turns on Trump: Who is Picking Sides? image

    Elon Musk Turns on Trump: Who is Picking Sides?

    Read More

  • 06

    Jun

    Rage to Resignation: Job Fears Under Trump vs. Biden image

    Rage to Resignation: Job Fears Under Trump vs. Biden

    Economy Inflation Jobs

    Read More