'I'm With Elon': Newsom Aligns With Musk In Lawsuit Over SpaceX Launch

CALIFORNIA — Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission this week after it denied a plan proposed by SpaceX to increase rocket launches off the state's coastline.

Musk and his legal team are accusing the powerful state agency of "naked political discrimination" when Musk declared his support for former President Donald Trump, according to court documents.

The agency rejected a Department of Defence proposal to expand launches at an Air Force base in Santa Barbara from 36 to 50.

The suit further alleges that the agency is "unlawfully" attempting to regulate space launch programs that are "critical" to national security.

In a surprising turn, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom voiced his support for the lawsuit.

"I'm with Elon," Newsom said to Politico in an interview on Thursday during a campaign stop for Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina. "Look, I'm not helping the legal case...you can't bring up that explicit level of politics."

He also acknowledged that some of the members of the Coastal Commission are friends that he appointed, Politico reported.

"But you've got to call balls and strikes," he said. "And trust me, I'm not big on the Elon Musk bandwagon right now. So that's me calling balls and strikes."

The Coastal Commission is tasked with protecting natural resources and regulating the use of land along the state's designated coastal zone. Previously, the agency allowed SpaceX to launch rockets 36 times per year, according to multiple reports.

For the Commission's part, members did raise worries about the impact of sonic booms on the coast's wildlife. But it also discussed concerns over Musk's move to insert himself in Trump's campaign as well as his companies' labor record, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"This company is owned by the richest person in the world with direct control of what could be the most expansive communications system in the planet," Commissioner Mike Wilson said, according to the Times. "Just last week that person was talking about political retribution."

Newsom's response last week came as a suprise since the pair are frequently seen sparring on X. Musk recently ripped into Newsom on X, saying "The Joker is in charge" after the governor banned governments from requiring voters to bring their identification to cast a ballot.

And Newsom previously blasted Musk on X for his new allegiance to Trump over the summer: "You bent the knee." The insult came after Musk announced he was moving his SpaceX and X headquarters to Texas.

"You never get off your knees," Musk returned.

The news comes as Newsom signed a handful of bills that would regulate artificial intelligence, one of which would have restricted the use of political "deepfakes." A federal judge blocked the measure a few weeks after the governor signed it, Politico reported.

The law would have targeted videos like one posted by Chris Kohls, who has the username "Mr Reagan" on X. His video depicted a digitally manipulated version of Vice President Kamala Harris saying she was selected because she is the "ultimate diversity hire." It was shared by Musk, who later teased Newsom on X: The governor of California just made this parody video illegal in violation of the Constitution of the United States. Would be a shame if it went viral."

Then, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have created the first-in-nation AI safety measures, which Musk did support.

The bill, which divided Silicon Valley and received unexpected support from Musk, would have imposed the nation's heaviest regulations on the rapidly growing AI industry. But Newsom said it would hand the public a false sense of security about controlling a fast-moving industry.

"While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data," Newsom said. "Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it."