NEWSOM! TRUMP! SOCIAL MEDIA WAR! (HUGE!) ARE WE DOOMED? VERY SAD | OPINION
One of the few joys I have left in life is watching politicians speak in full sentences, and now, somehow, President Donald Trump has stolen even that from me.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest tactic is open mockery of Trump’s unhinged social media posts. It turns a mirror not only on the deranged communications coming out of the White House, but also forces Americans to consider just how accustomed to this behavior we’ve become.
The reflection staring back at us is ugly.
Newsom’s all-caps posts, AI-generated meme content and internet culture parodies have captured the zeitgeist. His social media strategy both mimics and mocks Trump’s signature posting style while discussing serious policy issues, wrapped in a package tailor-made for the internet age via memes and sharp comebacks. It’s driven right-wing media sites like FOX News mad with hypocrisy, and Democrats are gleefully sharing the content online and with each other, boosting the message even further.
“DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!!” reads one of the governor’s recent posts on X. “STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”
It’s difficult to argue with the results, even if the method is repulsive. But beyond the initial wave of disgust, there’s something undeniably compelling about it.
“There’s joy in putting a mirror to MAGA,” said Newsom’s Director of Communications, Izzy Gardon. “It’s beautiful watching them not be able to take what they serve.”
While Trump supporters online don’t seem to be fans of Newsom trolling Trump, FOX News hasn’t been able to stop talking about it. Dana Perino, a commentator on the channel and a former White House press secretary, suggested that First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom should take Newsom’s phone away from him. (Something I’ve never heard them suggest First Lady Melania Trump should do.) Then Sen. Ted Cruz implied that the California governor was smoking too much weed.
“DANA “DING DONG” PERINO (NEVER HEARD OF HER UNTIL TODAY!) IS MELTING DOWN BECAUSE OF ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM! FOX HATES THAT I AM AMERICA’S MOST FAVORITE GOVERNOR (”RATINGS KING”) SAVING AMERICA” Newsom’s account wrote on X.
To Cruz, Newsom’s trolls simply responded with a picture of the Texas Republican rolling his luggage at an airport, asking: “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”
“I’m just following (Trump’s) example,” Newsom told reporters about the posts last week. “If you have issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns with what he’s putting out as president.”
“The deeper question is how we’ve allowed the normalization of his tweets and social posts over the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice,” the governor added.
At this point, Democrats could host witches’ covens hexing the Republican party while they vote to tar and feather U.S. Attorney (and Trump bootlicker) Bill Essayli, and that would still be above the bar set by the GOP.
Gardon said it’s been surprising to their small team of Trump trolls just how much the algorithm on social media sites like X has been rewarding the all-caps content.
The governor’s office said it has recorded an increase of nearly 3 million new followers across their social media pages, and more than 1 billion views and impressions since the office began posting like Trump a few weeks ago.
“I think people are feeling empowered and excited that someone else is employing MAGA’s tools as a way to fight back,” Gardon said.
But how long can we expect this mimicry to last? I fear this is the new norm, but I just can’t stomach the idea of parsing another, screaming, all-caps post from people who are supposed to be smarter and more civilized than the rest of us. If it makes you cringe to see Newsom posting like this, then why do we accept it from Trump as a matter of course?
“I hope it’s not the future, but I’m also not naive,” Gardon said. “The governor will keep on doing it until we don’t need to anymore, and we can return to politics of civility, decency and kindness. We’re done fighting with our hands tied behind our back.”
Robin Epley is a columnist for McClatchy and the Sacramento Bee.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 8:00 AM with the headline "NEWSOM! TRUMP! SOCIAL MEDIA WAR! (HUGE!) ARE WE DOOMED? VERY SAD | OPINION."
