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Some of the top leaders of the rumored Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 are showing solidarity in the fight against US strikes on Iran, with several senior figures accusing President Donald Trump of launching an unnecessary and unconstitutional war.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump is “dragging America into a war the American people don’t want.”
“Let me be clear: I am against the revolutionary war in Iran, and our military is being put in harm’s way by Trump’s war of choice,” Harris said in a statement Saturday following the joint US and Israeli strikes across Iran.
“This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble on American lives and threatens stability in the region and our standing in the world,” he continued. “What we see is not power. It’s recklessness dressed up as decision.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to be divided as the leading Democratic 2028 hopefuls spoke out against US strikes on Iran. (Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference; REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen; Mario Tama/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched another sharp criticism during a book tour stop Saturday night in San Francisco, blaming Trump for creating the problem.
“It’s from weakness masquerading as strength,” Newsom said. “You’re lying. So carelessness is the way to explain this.”
“He didn’t explain to the American people what the bottom line is here,” Newsom said. “There wasn’t one. He did it.”
Newsom is currently promoting his memoir, “Fast Guy,” with recent and upcoming stops in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada — three key early voting states on the Democratic presidential calendar.
Earlier, Newsom said that the “corrupt and oppressive” regime of Iran should never get nuclear weapons and that “Iran’s leadership must go.”
“But that does not excuse the President of the United States from engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will unnecessarily endanger the lives of our American service members and our friends to the American people,” Newsom wrote in X.
California is home to more than half of the approximately 400,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States, including a large community in West Los Angeles often referred to as “Tehrangeles.”
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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., a leading progressive voice and member of “The Party”, accused Trump of dragging the American people into a conflict they did not support.
“The American people have been dragged into a war they didn’t want by a president who doesn’t care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is illegal. It’s unnecessary. And it will be a disaster,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
“Just this week, Iran and the United States were discussing important measures that could prevent war. The President abandoned these discussions and chose war,” he continued.
“In times of war, our Constitution does not change: Congress authorizes war. The President does not,” he said, pledging to vote “YES on Rep. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s War Powers Resolution.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker condemned the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Vox Media)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another Democrat often touted as a potential 2028 challenger, also criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress.
“There are no reasons, no authorization from Congress, and no clear intent,” Pritzker wrote in X.
“Donald Trump has once again watered down the Constitution and once again fails to explain why he is taking us into another war,” he continued. “The American people asked for affordable housing and health care, not another endless conflict.”
“God bless our soldiers,” Pritzker said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on the military power, saying Trump acted without constitutional rights.
“In our democracy, the American people — through our elected representatives — decide when our country goes to war,” Shapiro said, adding that Trump “acted indiscriminately — without the consent of Congress.”
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on the military power, saying Trump acted without constitutional rights. (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Make no mistake, the Iranian regime is oppressing its people … they must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons,” he said. “But that does not excuse the President of the United States from engaging in an illegal, dangerous war.”
Shapiro added that “Congress must use all available powers” to prevent further escalation.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also accused Trump of launching a “war of choice.”
“The President has launched our nation and our largest military into a war of choice, putting American lives and resources at risk, flouting American law, and endangering our allies and partners,” Buttigieg wrote in X. “This nation has learned the hard way that unnecessary war, without a plan for what comes next, can lead to years of chaos and put America in grave danger.”
Buttigieg has been hitting early voting districts, making stops in New Hampshire and Nevada in recent weeks to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has been seen as a rising figure nationally in the party, said he lost friends in Iraq in the illegal war and opposed the strikes.
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“Young working children should not have to pay the full price for regime change and a war that has not been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democratic movement and the Iranian people without sending our soldiers to die,” Gallego wrote in X.
Fox News’ Daniel Scully and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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