California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Donald Trump is setting the stage to sow doubts on the outcome of this year’s midterm elections, predicting that the president is heading for a bruising defeat and will dispute the results.

In a wide-ranging interview at a Bloomberg event in San Francisco, Newsom castigated Trump for his actions on immigration, foreign policy and federal funding. He argued that Trump is taking action against democracy itself, referring to a Wednesday FBI raid of a Georgia county election office to seize ballots from the 2020 election.

“It’s setting the baseline that the last election, in 2020, was rigged, so you should have zero confidence in the outcome of the midterm election in which Donald Trump is going to get crushed.”

Newsom, 58, is in the final year of his second term as governor and is seen as a likely contender in the 2028 presidential race, even as he demurs in responding if he’ll run. Over the past year, he has stepped more aggressively onto the national stage, casting himself as a Democratic counterweight to Trump as the party searches for a new standard-bearer.

In California, he’s sparred with Trump over funds for wildfire aid and the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. At the same time, he’s elevated his role nationally with frequent TV appearances, a podcast and a social-media feed that frequently mocks Trump and blasts his policies.

“He is not screwing around,” Newsom said of Trump on Thursday. “He’s trying to ruin our republic. He’s trying to torch it.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday executed a search warrant at a Fulton County election office in Georgia to probe the results of the 2020 vote that saw Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, win the state. Trump has long falsely claimed that he won the election.

The White House referred questions to the Department of Justice, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

History and current polls favor Democrats in the November contests that will determine control of Congress. The party out of power historically does well in the off-year elections, and this year, Republicans face headwinds over affordability concerns. A Democratic majority in at least one chamber of Congress would be a check on the back end of a second term Trump presidency that’s seen a generational stretch of executive authority.

For his part, Trump has acknowledged the uphill battle that he and his party have come November. He lamented the historical winds on the campaign trail in Iowa earlier this week.

“The worst thing about the midterms is the fact that, no matter what happens, the people that win the presidency,” see losses in the midterm elections, Trump said.

Newsom also assailed Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, which has sparked widespread outcry after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in street confrontations. The administration said Thursday that it’s seeking to scale down the number of officials in the area after the uproar.

Newsom said White House border czar Tom Homan is the wrong person to step in and that he has little confidence that the administration will deescalate tensions.

Newsom has also expanded his international presence and weighed in more frequently on foreign policy. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, he urged global leaders to stand up to the president and called their responses to Trump’s push to acquire Greenland “pathetic,” hawking satirical knee pads to attendees.

Newsom said on Thursday that he spoke to dozens of European leaders at the gathering who expressed “universal condemnation,” of Trump’s policies. He pointed to India’s free-trade deal with the European Union this week as a sign of a rupture in U.S. standing.

“This wrecking-ball presidency is jaw-dropping in real time,” he said.

While Newsom has expanded his reach, he’s taken criticism for paying less attention to issues in California, welcoming conservative figures to his podcast and adopting some of Trump’s mocking social media tactics. He defended his meme-filled approach.

“It’s been important what we’ve done, putting a mirror up to the aberrant behavior of Donald Trump,” he said. “Part of putting a mirror up to that aberrant behavior has allowed me to drive a conversation that I couldn’t drive in the past. And it’s conversation that is style, undoubtedly, but also substance.”

Newsom declined to specify his plans once he leaves office next year. He noted his previous career as an entrepreneur and small-business owner, while leaving open the option for other roles in public service.

“I have a few identities, but public service is the most precious,” he said. “And no matter what happens that is never going to escape me.”

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(Mario Parker contributed to this report.)

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