California Governor Gavin Newsom has never shied away from the political spotlight, but in recent weeks, he’s found a new way to seize it—by parodying former President Donald Trump’s bombastic social media style. What began as a tongue-in-cheek experiment on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has quickly ballooned into a headline-grabbing digital strategy that is delighting some Democrats, infuriating Republicans, and sparking plenty of debate about the future of political communication in America.
Until this summer, Newsom’s press office account on X was, frankly, a snooze. It pushed out the kind of routine updates you’d expect from any state official: vocational education initiatives, a new steel mill breaking ground, and assurances that California was ready for the next winter storm. As The New York Times reported, it was “official, routine and easily overlooked.” Or, as Trump himself might have said, “SAD!”
But that all changed on August 11, 2025, when Newsom’s team unleashed a post that mimicked Trump’s signature style: “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES,” ending, of course, with “THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” The post was intended as a one-off joke, according to Newsom’s office, but the response was overwhelming. The account’s follower count soared, and the governor’s communications team—four core members and a handful of others—decided to keep the momentum going.
Since then, Newsom’s press office has churned out a steady stream of Trumpian content: all-caps hyperbole, dismissive nicknames, grandstanding boasts, and enough exclamation points to make even the former president blush. The posts are peppered with intentionally offensive zingers and winding tangents, with Newsom’s initials “GCN” subbing in for Trump’s “DJT.” The governor’s face has been superimposed onto Mount Rushmore, and AI-generated images show him standing heroically in front of the Golden Gate Bridge as fireworks celebrate California’s status as the world’s fourth largest economy.
The strategy has paid off in spades—at least in terms of attention. According to CNN, the number of followers on Newsom’s official press office account jumped by 450 percent since mid-June. Daily Google searches for Newsom have skyrocketed 500 percent since August 1, 2025. As of August 20, the account boasts about 430,000 followers, up by 250,000 in less than three weeks, surpassing the main accounts of other prominent Democratic governors like J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York. Newsom’s main X account, meanwhile, has 2.4 million followers—though Trump’s still dwarfs them all, with a staggering 108 million.
Supporters have embraced the new approach with gusto, flooding the internet with memes of Newsom as a shirtless action hero, brandishing pistols or riding a velociraptor into battle. The posts, according to Newsom, are not just about trolling Trump but about highlighting what he sees as the absurdity of the former president’s communication style. “It’s following his example,” Newsom said at a recent press conference, as reported by The New York Times. “If you’ve got issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he’s putting out as president.”
Newsom has been candid about his motivations. He told historian and podcast host Heather Cox Richardson that people who normally “can’t stand” politicians have been reaching out to compliment his new approach. “And they’re maybe paying attention to the childishness that is Donald Trump, that we’ve allowed him to normalize—the way he communicates, talking down to us, looking past us,” Newsom said. “I’ve got kids, and I’ve got a whole generation of people who thinks this is normal. It is not, and it can’t be normalized, and that’s a big part of what we’re also pushing back against.”
But the strategy is not without its critics—or risks. Conservative commentators have pounced, with Fox News anchor Dana Perino saying, “If I were his wife, I would say you are making a fool of yourself, stop it.” Tomi Lahren, a right-wing podcaster, declared, “Let’s go ahead and cross him off the list of Democrats to keep an eye on. He’s embarrassed himself to such a degree on social media.” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights under President Trump, was blunt: “I’m all for appreciating crass humor. I love ‘South Park.’ It’s hilarious. But don’t just be a loser copying the most powerful person in the world’s style.”
The White House, for its part, seems unfazed. In response to AFP, officials shared a meme from the TV show “Mad Men” to signal that Trump isn’t giving Newsom much thought. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson was more direct in an email: “Nothing about Newscum is authentic—from his rehearsed answers to his flip-flopping policy positions—he goes whatever way the wind blows. It makes sense that he would try to mimic the President’s wildly successful communication strategy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Gavin’s behavior is just getting weird at this point.”
Newsom’s team, meanwhile, insists the posts are a group effort, with the governor himself pitching in regularly. “The governor has tasked us with communicating more effectively, so we’re doing it,” said Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s director of communications. “If it’s a really good post, you can credit the governor. If it flops, blame the clueless intern.”
There’s little doubt that Newsom’s approach is resonating with a certain segment of the Democratic base—especially younger, digitally savvy voters. Jeff Le, a former deputy cabinet secretary for ex-Governor Jerry Brown, told AFP that Newsom’s messaging “reflects the inside joke that many digital native Democrats understand.” But he cautioned that the strategy could backfire if a serious crisis hits California and the White House decides to keep score. “If there is a terrible natural disaster—a catastrophic fire or mudslide—it’s fair to say that the White House keeps score, and the president may be less inclined to provide timely federal government support and funding for the response.”
Others see Newsom’s tactics as a necessary evolution. Sarah Roberts, director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry at UCLA, told The New York Times, “It’s certainly over the top, but we’re in over-the-top times, aren’t we? Many people who feel disenfranchised at this moment have taken some solace in seeing what one might describe as fighting fire with fire.”
Still, there are open questions about whether the strategy is sustainable—or wise. As longtime tech journalist Kara Swisher put it, “Does he want to be a podcaster, or does he want to be president? And is this what it now takes to be president?” For now, Newsom and his team seem happy to ride the wave, promising to keep up the antics as long as people keep laughing.
As the 2028 presidential race begins to take shape, Newsom’s experiment in digital bravado could mark a turning point in how Democrats engage with the Trump-era playbook. Whether it’s a fleeting meme or a model for the future, one thing’s certain: the governor has everyone’s attention—for better or worse.
