California Governor Gavin Newsom and his team appear convinced that the best way to lead is to tweet like Trump.
With California’s problems apparently “solved” — skyrocketing homelessness, crime, businesses fleeing the state, rolling blackouts, and unaffordable housing — the governor’s press office has spent its time hammering out parody posts in ALL CAPS, complete with juvenile nicknames and boasts about “beautiful maps.”
HAS ANYONE NOTICED THAT SINCE I SAID “I HATE KID ROCK” HE’S NO LONGER ‘HOT?’ — GCN
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 20, 2025
Their latest move? Taking a swing at Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, mocking him as “low rated.” The problem is that Gutfeld happens to have the highest-rated late-night talk show on television. The jab didn’t land on him — it boomeranged back onto Kimmel, Colbert, and Fallon, who’ve been trailing him badly for years. So Newsom’s big troll wound up punching his own allies in the gut.
And this isn’t just a one-off misfire. Newsom’s Trump-lite routine has grown so over-the-top that even MSNBC’s Morning Joe — a show usually allergic to criticizing Democrats — is reportedly rolling its eyes. When the loyalists on that set stop clapping, you know the act has worn thin.
I SELDOM WATCH LOW-RATED “GARBAGEMAN” GREG GUTFELD BUT, WHEN I DO, I MARVEL AT THE FAKE LAUGHTER ON THE SHOW. IT SOUNDS LIKE A BAD “LAUGH MACHINE,” IT’S SO OBNOXIOUS AND DISGUSTING, JUST LIKE HIM, ALWAYS LAUGHING NO MATTER WHAT IS SAID. REAL PATRIOTS HATE IT WHEN FOX (“EDITS THE…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 20, 2025
This is the deeper problem. Democrats, and Newsom in particular, keep trying to reinvent themselves as the “fighter class” who can go toe-to-toe with Trump in the arena he dominates: media and messaging. But they can’t quite pull it off. Trump’s style worked because it was authentic — it came from him, not from a team of staffers imitating his cadence. Newsom’s version looks like a costume party, a hollow copycat act that lacks the substance to back it up.
How Gavin Newsom trolled his way to the top of social media https://t.co/bnU1VGwuYr
— POLITICO (@politico) August 20, 2025
The result? Instead of looking strong, Democrats look like they’re fumbling for footing and falling flat. Newsom wants to be the party’s brawler, but his trolling campaign exposes exactly what’s missing: a message, a record to defend, and the courage to confront his own state’s failures.
