Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and his team have recently escalated their social media attacks on President Donald Trump, his administration, and his most loyal supporters as part of the “Make America Great Again” campaign. Their approach is simple: mock Trump using his own writing style and fighting spirit.
Last week, Newsom’s official press account mimicked the president in an all-caps, Trump-like tweet amid a controversial Republican redistricting plot in Texas aimed at adding five more Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives. (Newsom has since launched a campaign initiative in California asking the state’s voters to approve early redistricting to neutralize Republican gains in Washington.)
“California will now draw new, ‘nicer’ maps, and they will be historic because they will end the Trump presidency (Democrats take back the House!),” Newsom’s press office wrote.
Donald “Taco” Trump, as many call him, “missed” the deadline!!! California will now draw new, “prettier” maps, and they will be historic because they will end the Trump presidency (the Democrats are taking back the House!). Big press conference this week with powerful Democrats and Gavin Newsom – yours truly…
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 12, 2025
In a subsequent tweet, the governor’s office mocked a photo of Trump pointing at Russian President Vladimir Putin by posting a photo of Newsom pointing at Trump on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport in January.
Other posts from Newsom and his office mimicked Trump’s long speeches on his Truth Social platform or mocked some of the heavily edited, AI-generated images known to be promoted by Trump and his “Make America Great Again” supporters.
But Newsom and his office didn’t stop at Trump. The governor’s press account “X” quickly responded to other online criticism, and Newsom and his team also made sarcastic jokes about Vice President J.D. Vance.
This weekend, the California Democrat referenced Vance’s controversial exchange with Volodymyr Zelensky before the Ukrainian president’s return to the Oval Office on Monday by sharing a widely shared video of Vance awkwardly running at Disneyland in California this summer.
While some anti-Trump social media users praised Newsom and his team for their vicious attacks on the Trump administration, many prominent conservatives and Make America Great Again supporters on X predictably opposed this heavy-handed, tit-for-tat approach.
Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher called Newsom’s attacks “childish,” host Dana Perino wondered if the governor’s wife would intervene to stop him from tweeting, and far-right commentator Tomi Lahren mocked Newsom and his team as “alpha males” in a post on X.
Newsom told reporters last week that he hoped his action was a “wake-up call,” and that “the fundamental question is: How did we allow his tweets and posts to be normalized on Truth Social” without “similar scrutiny and notification.”