“Newsom was right about everything”, says the red hat, which costs $32. A T-shirt with the inscription “Trump is not sexy” is also being sold, and the “Holy Bible” for $100 has already been completely sold out. The items on California Governor Gavin Newsom's personal website are no coincidence, resembling those of President Donald Trump. Newsom's team has been parodying Trump's style on social media with great success.
Texts written in all capital letters, shots with artificial intelligence
Provocative texts in Trump's style, written entirely in capital letters, as the US president likes to write, are often seen on Gavin Newsom's online profiles. How did it all start? A text imitating Trump's style, published on Newsom's profile on August 11, and actually intended as a joke, received so many interactions that it prompted the governor's team to continue in the same style, ARD explains.
Many more parodies of Trump followed - for example, with the president's desire to be immortalized on Mount Rushmore, alongside the faces of four significant American presidents. Instead of Trump's face, however, Gavin Newsom's team has put the governor's face in the photo.
Changes in Texas and California electoral districts
Democrat Newsom says he wants to “make people see the absurdity as if in a mirror”. In a podcast interview, the California governor commented that he is deeply disturbed by the behavior of the Trump administration.
One of the reasons was the redistricting of electoral districts in the state of Texas in favor of the ruling Republican Party - in the midterm elections next year, this could help Trump's party expand its majority in Congress. In response, Newsom decided to do the same in California to “return the seats lost in Texas“ to the Democratic Party. On November 4, Californians will vote to approve the move.
A good strategy with some risks
Newsom's strategy seems to be working - the governor is positioning himself as Donald Trump's main opponent. "Save democracy in all 50 states," reads political posters in California, part of his new campaign. Gavin Newsom wants to confront Trump with the same tools that the president uses. And Newsom's profile on X has gathered over 400,000 new followers in August alone.
The White House has described Newsom's behavior as "pretty strange," and hosts on "Fox News" have called it "childish." The governor's team responded with, "Thank you for your attention," and that's exactly how Donald Trump has been ending most of his messages on his social network Truth Social lately.
"Extreme emotions, anger, short, memorable phrases - all of these things work," Jamie Crane, a professor of media and psychology at Columbia University, told NPR. There's a problem, though - at some point, this approach could lose people's trust. "When someone keeps yelling at you, you start to wonder if it's more about emotion than facts and research," the professor says.
A presidential candidate?
If he can push through California's redistricting, Gavin Newsom will benefit from this victory in the long run. He is said to have ambitions to run for president in 2028, writes ARD. In addition, no other Democratic Party member has attracted as much attention as Newsom.
“Democrats are so desperate for a new leader that they will agree to anything”, political strategist Alex Hoffman told “The Washington Post”. According to him, Gavin Newsom fills a gap. However, if the vote on redistricting is lost, it will set him back.
Gavin Newsom was among the first to react to the attack on Charlie Kirk, who was killed during an event in Utah. In Platform X, Newsom called the act "disgusting and reprehensible".
Author: Nils Damptz ARD