Newsom's Attempt to Court the Far-Left Will Fail, as History Shows Mob Leaders Are Ultimately Consumed by Their Own Radicalism
Source: "Newsom's far-left mob play echoes Danton's fatal French Revolution gamble | Fox News." August 16, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The author argues that California Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to appeal to the far-left wing of the Democratic Party while still being part of the political establishment, and that this contradictory strategy will backfire. Using the French Revolution as an analogy—where revolutionary leaders like Danton were eventually executed by the very radical movement they helped unleash—the author suggests Newsom will likewise be devoured by the socialist movement he's trying to court, and that current polling already shows this strategy is failing.
Conclusion
Gavin Newsom's strategy of positioning himself as an 'established insurgent' to appeal to the far-left/socialist wing of the Democratic Party is both hypocritical and doomed to fail, as history (via the French Revolution) shows that those who try to lead radical mobs for personal political gain are eventually destroyed by the very extremism they enable.
Premises
- Newsom is attempting to be 'everything to everyone'—both an establishment figure and a revolutionary insurgent—which is logically incoherent, akin to calling oneself a 'violent pacifist.'
- Historical precedent (Georges Danton in the French Revolution) shows that political figures who try to harness mob radicalism for their own advancement inevitably get consumed by that same radicalism once it turns on perceived moderates or 'factionalists.'
- Today's far-left/socialist wing of the Democratic Party is increasingly purging and denouncing moderates as insufficiently radical, mirroring the Jacobin pattern of eating their own.
- Newsom is wealthy and part of the political establishment, making his attempt to court socialist, anti-elite sentiment fundamentally hypocritical (similar to Ro Khanna, another wealthy Democrat courting the socialist vote).
- Polling data shows Newsom is failing in this strategy—he trails candidates like Buttigieg and AOC among primary voters, including in early states like New Hampshire, suggesting voters can detect his insincerity ('French Laundry' vs. 'French Revolution').
- Genuine radicals like AOC are outperforming Newsom because voters prefer authentic ideological commitment over a calculated hybrid ('established insurgent') positioning.
Assumptions
- The French Revolution's Reign of Terror is a valid and directly applicable historical analogy for contemporary U.S. Democratic Party politics.
- The 'far-left mob' framing accurately characterizes the current progressive/socialist wing of the Democratic Party as inherently violent or self-destructive, similar to Jacobin radicals.
- Political and financial elites who advocate for progressive policies are inherently hypocritical, rather than potentially sincere in their beliefs despite personal wealth.
- Polling data at this stage of a primary race reliably predicts the ultimate coalition and power dynamics within the party.
- Newsom's motives are purely opportunistic (personal ambition) rather than reflecting any genuine ideological shift or strategic political calculation that could still succeed.