Republicans Keep Falling For Gavin Newsom’s Trump Trap

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s social media account mimicking Donald Trump’s all-caps online posts is getting under the skin of prominent conservatives on the right.

The reaction to Newsom’s pitch-perfect parody of Trump — including his wild rants, name-calling, and use of AI-generated images — is shining a light on the absurd behavior of the president of the United States, who has largely gotten a pass from his party for doing the same thing.

“You have to stop it with the Twitter thing,” Fox News host Dana Perino said Monday of the potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. “If I were his wife, I would say: You are making a fool of yourself, stop it. … He’s got a big job as governor of California, but if he wants an even bigger job, he has to be a little more serious.”

“I don’t know what he’s trying to do but it comes across as childish and — you are the governor of the biggest state in the union — what are you doing?” added Fox News host Trace Gallagher.

For years, and often in the middle of the night, Trump has posted screeds against his perceived enemies on his social media website Truth Social, hurling invectives and sharing conspiracies once considered unthinkable for an American president. His critics have repeatedly accused the media of normalizing the bizarre posts and “sanewashing” his language online.

Newsom’s team is trying a different approach — one that’s earned the governor praise from the Democratic base and lots of eyeballs. According to Newsom’s office, the aggressive new strategy has resulted in the @GovPressOffice account on X gaining more than 250,000 followers, more than 225 million impressions, and more than 1.5 million profile visits since Aug. 1.

“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,” the governor said of Trump at a press conference in Los Angeles last week. “To the extent it’s gotten some attention, I’m pleased. But I think the deeper question is, how have we allowed the normalization of his tweets over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice?”

“Now everyone’s so offended, ‘Oh, it’s so unbecoming of your position.’ But not the president of the United States?” he added.

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 — WHILE TRUMP CAN’T EVEN CONQUER THE “BIG” STAIRS ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE!!! TRUMP HAS… — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 19, 2025

Newsom’s account has trolled Trump on issues like redistricting, which he is leading in California to counter similar GOP efforts in Texas, gone after critics with Trump-like nicknames, and even referred to them by the wrong name, a favorite tactic of the president.

On Monday, the account mocked Vice President JD Vance, editing a photo of the face of the likely 2028 Republican presidential candidate onto the body of Australian breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who went viral during last year’s Olympics for her less-than-impressive technique.

And it has shared tongue-in-cheek images generated by artificial intelligence similar to those put forward by Trump, portraying notable figures praying over the governor and his face appearing on Mount Rushmore.

so nice! pic.twitter.com/mkOMRvAalh — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 17, 2025

“Yeah guys, Gavin Newsom’s content is ridiculous,” wrote Republican strategist Sarah Longwell. “But it’s making you uncomfortable because he’s holding up a mirror to what you tolerate on behalf of partisanship. It jolts people out of their passive acceptance of how insane Trump sounds.”

The Democratic Party’s popularity is at its lowest point in three decades of polling, according to a recent survey from The Wall Street Journal. Democratic voters are increasingly demanding that their elected officials take a stronger stance against the Trump administration, which in the last six months has dismantled government programs, muscled through Medicaid cuts, passed tax cuts for the wealthy, and deployed National Guard troops in U.S. cities in a massive crackdown on immigration.

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“We have to have our sights focused — laser-focused — on winning, fighting fire with fire,” Newsom said in an interview with MeidasTouch last week. “No longer on our back heels — on our toes. We drive the narrative. We drive the reforms. We drive the talking points. Surround sound. Not just California — all of us. We, the people, states large and small, all across this country.”