Newsom and Trump have been locked in an increasingly bitter public feud over the president’s decision to send in 4,000 National Guardsmen and roughly 700 Marines to help quell riots in Los Angeles against ICE raids. Largely powerless to confront Trump’s federal response directly, the governor has turned to public appeals and mocking the president with tactics Trump’s team has come to master.
The governor and his press office have posted memes, made up nicknames, and made other snarky comments mocking Trump, his team, and some of his supporters.
A Wednesday post on X from Newsom’s press office account responded to a claim from White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller about California’s Sanctuary laws by saying “we seek sanctuary from your stupidity,” then calling him “Voldemort.”
In another post, the account quoted a video from actor John Voight criticizing Newsom with an image still from The Simpsons, showing a fictional newspaper with the headline “Old man yells at cloud.”
In another, the account posted a video of people dancing in Los Angeles, implying it represented the wider protests and riots in the city, with the mocking caption, “PETE, SEND THE MARINES !”
In a Tuesday post, the account posted a video of an AI voice generator reading out one of Miller’s posts in Star Wars villain General Grievous’s voice.
Newsom has aggressively responded to Republican criticisms with one-liners and other insults.
“If you want to discuss violence, let’s start with your state’s murder rate — which is 40% higher than California’s,” he said in a post quoting criticism from Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).
“Someone explain the plot to him,” he said in a post quoting an article about Trump attending the play Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center, a story about the struggles of the French underclass and the resulting June Rebellion of 1832.
Newsom also aped Trump and the White House account’s penchant to post the American flag during major moments, instead posting the California state flag with no further comment.
The strategy reflects a growing trend among Democrats of attempting to adopt humor, often crass, to retake cultural momentum from the right.
Trump’s use of memes has spread across his administration more broadly, with several administration social media accounts utilizing memes.
The account of the Department of Homeland Security quoted Newsom’s Press Office’s post of General Grievous with a variation of the popular “Don’t make me tap the sign” meme originating from The Simpsons, saying that liberals derive their worldview from fiction.
Miller, White House communications director Steven Cheung, and Vice President JD Vance are known for their aggressive online behavior, frequently quoting and responding to Democratic criticisms in humorous ways. Cheung is known for his frequent use of profanity and crude language in deriding political opponents on his official White House account, most recently turning his wrath against Newsom.
“Gavin NewScum spent all this time–instead of doing his actual job– preparing for a webinar just for the audio to not work,” he said in a Tuesday post, using a nickname coined by Trump, referring to an address Newsom made which experienced initial audio issues. “The production quality is just like his leadership quality– s****y.”
In a Monday post, he used a crude analogy to bash Newsom’s response to the Los Angeles riots.
Miller and Vance are typically more articulate, often typing paragraphs to get their message across. Miller often speaks hyperbolically, making heavy accusations against Democrats and other political opponents.
“America was invaded by illegal aliens. Americans voted to end the invasion. Democrat rioters are now waging violent insurrection to overturn the election result and continue the invasion,” he said in a Tuesday post.
NEWSOM REFASHIONS HIMSELF AS RESISTANCE FIGHTER AFTER APPEALS TO MAGA RIGHT
However, Vance often weighs in on viral political memes. Recently, he called the Democrats “the lamest opposition in American history” when the DNC organized a taco truck as a play on the new term TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out.
Newsom’s latest rebrand as a resistance hero comes during his attempt to appeal to the MAGA right. He hosted a podcast in which he talked to several prominent right-wing figures and acquiesced to several of their points.
