California Governor Gavin Newsom is utilizing a brand new “darkish woke” strategy to counter President Trump on social media that appears to be getting optimistic ballot outcomes.
Brad Pearce sums up Newsom’s techniques and labels him “America’s Alcibiades”:
Newsom is already doing what he can to lift his profile upfront of a broadly anticipated Presidential run. At the moment, one type this has taken is a podcast the place he engages with individuals starting from Charlie Kirk to Tim Walz about a wide range of matters, most notably attempting to strike a conciliatory word with the younger male voters the Democrats have been bleeding. He additionally has his aids working a “Press Launch” account the place they attempt to emulate Trump’s language and habits, a gimmick which has gotten combined opinions. Most importantly, Gavin Newsom is backing an formidable initiative to briefly droop California’s non-partisan Congressional districting fee in favor of partisan redistricting via 2030 which he claims would offset Texas’s mid-session redistricting scheme- that is seen as an unlimited political gamble however that assumes somebody who feels disgrace and is unable to win by dropping.
…
Skeptics abound about if any of this work. They word the disastrous response to the LA wildfires in the beginning of this 12 months. They are saying that nobody needs to “Make America California” given its excessive price of dwelling, extraordinary charge of homelessness, unbelievable purple tape, fixed dysfunction, and that as such California liberals are poisonous to nationwide politics.
…
Others say that voters merely received’t go for a person who’s so clearly sociopathic and clearly lacks core beliefs. These criticisms misunderstand each Gavin Newsom and electoral democracy itself. Most profitable politicians could have some type of persona dysfunction, as half of their job is blowing smoke up your ass, however Newsom’s apparent sociopathy and real shamelessness are monumental political property that can’t be taught. Newsom appears to stay by the immortal phrases of George Costanza, “And bear in mind, it’s not a lie in the event you imagine it.”
…
Newsom has no baggage as a result of he merely doesn’t care, he’ll simply inform you that you’re mistaken with some quickly produced semi-relevant key phrases or statistics. … Gavin Newsom thrives at a activity which is arduous to any semi-normal individual as a result of he feeds off of promoting individuals on himself all day whereas concurrently having no emotional response to adverse suggestions. Here’s a uncommon politician who enjoys the journey as an alternative of simply dreaming in regards to the vacation spot. I received’t belabor the comparability, however he actually is an American Alcibiades– gifted, good trying, self-aggrandizing, incapable of disgrace, and in it just for himself and the love of the sport.
Pearce’s publish additionally features a useful pocket biography of Gavin Newsom for individuals who should know extra in regards to the man who could be POTUS.
All I ever wanted to find out about Gavin Newsom is roofed on this 2018 LA Instances piece in regards to the “eight elite San Francisco households” who “funded Gavin Newsom’s political ascent.”
Gavin Newsom’s techniques appear to be serving him properly within the preseason presidential major polling by Emerson School:
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 1, 2025
And has him neck-and-neck with Vice-President J.D. Vance:
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 1, 2025
A few of Newsom’s development since June appears to have come on the expense of hapless former Vice-President Kamala Harris, however most appears to have come from undecided voters.
Regardless of the trigger, Gavin Newsom is doing properly sufficient that horse-race sportsbetters The Hill is rating him #1 within the Dem major:
Gavin Newsom has taken to trolling Trump on social media, typically with postings that ape the president’s idiosyncratic and hyperbolic language.
In current days, he has launched a line of merchandise in Trump’s signature purple bearing slogans like “Newsom was proper about the whole lot” and declaring in all caps “Many individuals are saying that is the best merchandise ever made.”
But it’s not all enjoyable and video games. In a public dialog at a Politico discussion board late final week, he advised Trump would run for an unconstitutional third time period and referred to as the president “merely probably the most harmful and damaging particular person in my lifetime.”
The no-holds-barred strategy seems to be paying off for Newsom.
The New York Instances rewarded Gavin Newsom for his Trump parody merchandising with a breathless article, quoting a number of lecturers about what all of it means:
The Patriot Store is simply the newest salvo in Mr. Newsom’s ongoing trolling of Trumpworld, which has additionally included utilizing a feisty social media feed to taunt the president and his fashion of posting, full along with his use of ALL CAPS and idiosyncratic, typically perplexing, vernacular.
The governor’s on-line efforts have drawn anger and typically bewildered reactions from the appropriate — “We get the joke,” mentioned Dana Perino, a Fox Information host, including, “It’s simply not humorous” — however heaps of reward from extra liberal commentators, who say it’s an indication of life in a Democratic Occasion that has been mired in finger-pointing and infighting since Kamala Harris’s loss in November.
…
Mr. Newsom admits the gag could ultimately turn into drained, however he appears tickled by the prank, telling a crowd in Sacramento on Wednesday evening that he could be rolling out much more merchandise on the poll marketing campaign’s web site, probably together with “a Trump corruption coin.”“I’ve fairly loved myself,” Mr. Newsom mentioned at an occasion sponsored by Politico, including that his purpose was “placing the mirror as much as the absurdity of all of this.”
One marketed merchandise seemingly giving the governor specific pleasure was a signed $100 Bible, which Mr. Newsom and his web site mentioned had already offered out, although the Marketing campaign for Democracy — his PAC, which is working the merch web site — declined to say precisely what number of Bibles it had offered, if any. (Mr. Trump did, in truth, promote his personal “God Bless the USA” Bibles final 12 months.)
On the similar time, the governor appears fairly critical in regards to the greater mission to “get up” the opposition to Mr. Trump.
“I’m sick and bored with Democrats being on the dropping finish on this nation and our democracy being on the dropping finish,” he mentioned. “We’ve obtained to struggle fireplace with fireplace.”
Gavin Newsom has additionally benefitted from battling Trump’s deployment of navy and Nationwide Guard to Los Angeles within the courts.
I up to date on that authorized battle a number of weeks again, specializing in two phrases: Posse Comitatus.
Gavin Newsom has additionally positioned himself on the “Abundance” facet of the homelessness situation:
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 1, 2025
As one would count on, this received plaudits from Abundance bro Derek Thompson:
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 1, 2025
Gavin Newsom’s adoption of rhetoric and insurance policies advocated by the Abundance bunch has been rewarded with billionaire money from Netflix’ Reed Hastings:
Netflix co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reed Hastings has given $2 million to assist California redraw its Home maps within the newest indication of the marketing campaign’s outsize stakes.
Hastings is a stalwart supporter of Democratic causes and an ally of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has championed the push to counter Texas’ GOP gerrymander with a brand new map designed to oust California Republicans. He additionally spent $3 million to assist Newsom beat again a recall try in 2021.
Presumably as a part of his Donald Trump impression, Governor Gavin Newsom tacked exhausting to the appropriate in his strategy to homelessness this spring:
Mr. Newsom’s administration has raised and spent tens of billions of {dollars} on packages to deliver homeless individuals into housing and to emphasise therapy. However his transfer on Monday marks a more durable strategy to one of many extra seen points of the homelessness disaster. The governor has created a template for an area ordinance that municipalities can undertake to outlaw encampments and clear current ones.
California is house to about half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless inhabitants, a visual byproduct of the temperate local weather and the state’s brutal housing disaster. Final 12 months, a file 187,000 individuals had been homeless within the state…
Mr. Newsom can not pressure cities to move his mannequin ban, however its issuance coincides with the discharge of greater than $3 billion in state-controlled housing funds that native officers can use to place his template in place. And although it’s not a mandate, the decision to outlaw encampments statewide by one of many best-known Democrats within the nation suggests a shift within the occasion’s strategy to homelessness.
…
The Newsom administration seized on the Supreme Courtroom ruling swiftly, ordering state companies to start humanely clearing encampments from state parks and freeway underpasses, and urging cities to do the identical in native jurisdictions.Some did, addressing encampments with various levels of compassion and aggression.
…
“There aren’t any extra excuses,” Governor Newsom mentioned in a press release accompanying the ordinance. “Native leaders requested for assets — we delivered the biggest state funding in historical past. They requested for authorized readability — the courts delivered. Now, we’re giving them a mannequin they will put to work instantly, with urgency and humanity, to resolve encampments and join individuals to shelter, housing and care.”
Gavin Newsom new strategy to social media and his ations the problems drew criticism from the left:
Actually crucial factor about Newsom to me is that he personally robbed and displaced homeless individuals for a photograph op https://t.co/YdG0EpHdrT pic.twitter.com/iYeSrppOQ6
— Bryce Greene (@TheGreeneBJ) August 20, 2025
The World Socialist Internet Website had a extra particular critique:
Newsom insisted the technique represented a “California-led” strategy, one which avoids Trump’s federal militarization of city policing. But this distinction is fully beauty. Slightly than rejecting the deployment of armed forces towards working-class neighborhoods, Newsom has preemptively normalized it on the state degree. “We’re working with native legislation enforcement, not overriding them,” he declared.
The fact is that this represents a significant enlargement of policing powers, redirecting state assets into paramilitary-style operations. Regardless of boasting about “falling crime charges” throughout California, Newsom is doubling down on “law-and-order” insurance policies—a clear try and preempt Trump’s propaganda and deflect Republican assaults. The message to the ruling class is unmistakable: California Democrats are ready to be simply as “critical on security” because the fascistic Trump administration in Washington.
On Friday, Newsom unveiled the State Motion for Facilitation on Encampments (SAFE) Process Pressure, a multi-agency initiative to dismantle homeless encampments throughout California’s ten largest cities, together with Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, and Fresno.
The duty pressure represents a major escalation of Newsom’s marketing campaign of criminalization and repression towards the poor. It builds straight on his signature coverage of violent sweeps, infamously showcased final 12 months when Newsom personally staged a publicity stunt, when he was filmed helping police as they tore down encampments and destroyed the belongings of homeless residents.
David Sirota’s Lever Information has documented many different occasions when Gavin Newsom labored for the massive cash.
Just like the driverless automobile tech foyer:
After autonomous automobile pursuits spent no less than 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 {dollars} on lobbying and handled two senior gubernatorial aides to a bougie dinner, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a invoice Friday evening that will have banned self-driving vehicles from working within the state with no security operator aboard.
The veto delivered an enormous win to Massive Tech and a significant blow to labor unions and highway security advocates, since backers of the invoice say the speedy rise of driverless vehicles could jeopardize trucking jobs and make public roadways extra harmful.
Newsom’s veto is the newest profitable lobbying effort for the rising autonomous automobile business within the influential, Democratic-led state.
Just like the crypto “business”:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a invoice that overwhelmingly handed each chambers of the California legislature and would have delivered guidelines and transparency to the state’s burgeoning and largely unregulated cryptocurrency business.
The transfer got here after the crypto business spent greater than $400,000 on lobbying efforts and representatives from the Bay Space tech large Salesforce lobbied Newsom straight on blockchain expertise and different business issues and handled him to a swanky dinner, in response to lobbying disclosures.
Gavin Newsom additionally performed Hamlet, or ought to I say Barack Obama, by publicly supporting single payer healthcare, then waffling on it at a vital time which ensured the California legislature by no means handed single payer laws.
Gavin Newsom is at the moment claiming he has reached a deal that may allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, however forgive me if I wait to see the effective print.
Time will inform if Gavin Newsom turns into the Democratic presidential nominee and if his mix of beauty “Darkish Woke” social media trolling, Centrist insurance policies, and mirroring of Trump’s authoritarianism at the same time as he decries will probably be a palatable combine in on the nationwide stage.
Readers could make up their very own thoughts about Gavin Newsom, however my views of the person had been set a few years in the past by the above-referenced 2018 LA Instances profile of the person and his moneyed backers:
San Francisco society’s “first households” — whose names grace museum galleries, charity ball invites and hospital wards — settled on Newsom, 50, as their favored candidate twenty years in the past, mentioned Willie Brown, former state Meeting speaker and former mayor of the town.
“He got here from their world, and that’s why they embraced him with out hesitancy and over and above everyone else,” mentioned Brown, who’s a mentor to Newsom. “They didn’t have to interview him. They knew what he stood for.”
— Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 1, 2025
These numbers have gone approach up since 2018, and Gavin Newsom could have made superficial stylistic and coverage adjustments, however cats don’t change their stripes, and like all sincere politician, Gavin Newsom stays purchased.
