Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams curiously used the same phrase to rally their like-minded leftist constituents against a possible Roe v. Wade overturn: "Fight like hell."

What happened?

Late Monday night, Politico obtained what it said is a draft decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn the court's 1973 ruling that made abortion legal across America. Should the high court strike down Roe v. Wade, abortion law would be left to individual states to determine.

Still, like clockwork, furious leftists far and wide — including 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (Vermont) — sounded the alarm over the apparently leaked SCOTUS draft.

Newsom and Adams joined them, both posting angry tweets in response to the news — and employing the same vaguely militaristic "fight like hell" phrase to get their messages across.

Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced.\n\nThe world is about to hear their fury.\n\nCalifornia will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473\u00a0\u2026

— Gavin Newsom (@Gavin Newsom) 1651540995

"Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced. The world is about to hear their fury. California will not sit back," Newsom wrote. "We are going to fight like hell."

New York City knows that a woman\u2019s right to make her own health care decisions is hers and hers alone. \n\nThis potential assault on their freedom by right wing extremists cannot stand. \n\nWe\u2019re ready to fight like hell.https://twitter.com/politico/status/1521288272021901312\u00a0\u2026

— Mayor Eric Adams (@Mayor Eric Adams) 1651540895

"New York City knows that a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions is hers and hers alone. This potential assault on their freedom by right wing extremists cannot stand," Adams wrote. "We’re ready to fight like hell."

The phrase also was used in tweets from the likes of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic Governors, and the president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

How are folks reacting to the Newsom and Adams tweets?

A number of observers were taken aback by Newsom and Adams using "fight like hell," particularly when it can be taken all sorts of ways by citizens in American's biggest state and city. Republican California state Rep. Kevin Kiley, for example, called Newsom's words "completely irresponsible."

Others agreed:

• "Democrat Governor from California calling for violence in response to the illegally leaked #SCOTUS decision on Roe v Wade," one commenter wrote. "Hopefully the FBI is on this. Sounds like he’s calling for an insurrection. Not good!"
• Another user questioned the wisdom of Adams' wording: "Are you openly inviting violent RIOTS on NY City sir? Are you inciting RIOTS?"
• "That is inciting violence, THAT is inciting violence," another commenter declared.
• "Newsom is an insurrectionist," another user said.
• "I was reliably informed 'fight like hell' was incitement of violence," another user said in response to Adams' tweet.
• "Sounds like he’s trying to incite something," another commenter wrote in regard to Newsom's tweet. "Isn’t that what the left says those incendiary words mean? Pray for peace and life."

Anything else?

In response to the potential Roe v. Wade overturn, Newsom and other Democrats announced Monday that "California is proposing an amendment to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution so that there is no doubt as to the right to abortion in this state. We know we can’t trust the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights, so California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution. Women will remain protected here.”