Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom continued his provocative campaign against Donald Trump, this time posting an Instagram video mocking the president’s health problems.
The montage, set to country star Reba McEntire’s 2001 hit “I’m a Survivor,” compiles some of Trump’s most embarrassing public gaffes, from his fall down the steps of Air Force One to his horrified recoil from a flying vulture to a rogue reporter’s microphone hitting him in the chin.
The caption reads: “He’s trying.”
The clip contrasts the president’s lavish lifestyle with the song’s lyrics, which speak of a “single mother working two jobs,” and focuses particularly on the bruises that have appeared on Trump’s hands in recent months.
The commander-in-chief was recently diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, but speculation about his health was rife long before that and has not abated since his condition was revealed.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt had previously tried to dismiss the bruises on his hand, attributing them to excessive diplomatic handshakes and aspirin use, noting that Trump “meets and shakes hands with more Americans every day than any other president in history.”
His former physician, now Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson of Texas, insisted last week that Trump was “the healthiest president this country has ever known,” as concerns about his absence from the national stage fueled fresh speculation, only tempered by his appearance on a Virginia golf course Saturday morning.
Trump is no stranger to highlighting his rivals’ health problems; He criticized Joe Biden’s performance before he withdrew from the race for the White House last summer.
Newsom has mimicked Trump’s style on social media over the past month, primarily using his @GovPressOfficeX account to boast about his greatness in all-caps and coining childish terms to attack hostile conservative media figures, just as Trump himself has done to his left-wing foes for years.
In one of his most recent posts, he responded to Trump’s “Good night!” message with a sarcastic reply: “Good night, Grandpa!”
The president resisted the bait and attacked Newsom for several weeks, before finally relenting on August 20 and posting on Truth Social: “Gavin Newsom is at the bottom of the polls. He is considered the man who is destroying the great state of California.”
Newsom has since revealed that the Trump team also responded by sending him red “Trump 2028” hats, to which the governor responded by distributing his own “Newsom 2026” mugs and hats that read: “Newsom was right about everything!”