The Bratty Inspiration of Gavin Newsom's Aggressive Social Media Trump Parody

I am not a fan of Gavin Newsom’s policies. He’s too conservative. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by hosting a podcast where you attempt to find common ground with right-wing scum like Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, Newt Gingrich, and Dr. Phil. Also, you’re the governor of a state that constitutes one of the biggest economies in the world. Why do you have time for a podcast? 

As Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign unfortunately illustrated, you’re not going to win over Republicans with elaborate displays of bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle. You’re just going to alienate a base that wonders why you’re campaigning with Liz Cheney rather than Bernie Sanders or AOC and come off as desperate to people who hate you because of the party you belong to. 

I strongly disagree with Newsom on trans issues and homelessness and much else, but I heartily approve of his social media strategy even if, as Paul F. Tompkins has pointed out, it is supremely easy to make fun of Donald Trump. 

Newsom is not subtle. Then again, neither is the target of his spoofery. Trump might be the least subtle politician in American history. Newsom doesn’t even come up with his own tweets. They are instead the work of a four to five-person social media team that includes the governor’s communications director, digital director, and rapid response director. 

Tompkins argued persuasively that Newsom could get the same response from plugging “Make parodies of Donald Trump’s tweets but praising California governor Gavin Newsom.” 

But I’m grateful that Newsom and his small team of highly paid young people are giving Trump the business on a regular basis because it sure can feel like he’s the only Democrat aggressively fighting back against our horrifying daily descent into an authoritarian dictatorship ruled by the stupidest bully ever to inhabit the White House. 

That’s not true, of course. AOC and Bernie Sanders are fighting back. Tim Walz and J.B. Pritzker are standing up to “TRUMP.” 

I like Newsom’s tweets because they put Republicans on the defensive. By acting offended by someone making fun of a 79-year-old man who communicates like a tantrum-prone third grader, MAGA look like humorless scolds who can dish it out but cannot take it. Newsom makes the “fuck your feelings” crowd look like snowflakes because they cannot handle Newsom making fun of their demented deity using the same rhetorical devices that he employs. 

Newsom’s aggressive social media ground game, which is devoted to the principle that the best defense is a good offense, puts Trump sycophants in the impossible position of having to defend a relentlessly juvenile fire hose of hatred, narcissism, and delusion as the uncensored, authentic voice of a man with an almost religious connection to the American people and an account parodying him as tacky, embarrassing and beneath the dignity of a grown man, let alone a political leader. 

By using Trump’s online tics, mannerisms, and catchphrases against him as satirical Judo, Newsom is making Trump supporters support the unsupportable. 

Donald Trump was not elected president twice because he’s qualified. He did not become the first president since Grover Cleveland to win non-consecutive terms in office because he's smart or strong or a gifted politician or dealmaker, although he'll be the first to tell you that he's the smartest, the strongest, as well as the greatest politician and dealmaker. 

Instead, he became president because he was entertaining. He became president because he loved being on television. He became president because he was good copy. He became president because he had a very distinctive social media voice that people found bizarrely attractive. 

Even writers who despise him with a white-hot intensity, like myself, end up writing about him constantly. 

That’s why it’s good that a Democrat who clearly wants to be president is entertaining, loves being on television, is good copy, and has become instantly infamous for mocking Trump’s Truth Social voice. 

When Republicans criticize Newsom, he integrates their responses into his shtick, and his character is willfully obnoxious because he's a mirror image of President Trump. “Gavin Newsom” is a huge asshole because he’s a tiny bit exaggerated version of the man sucking all the life out of the country.

This seems like the kind of shit that gets old fast, but as long as Trump is blathering on, he’s a fat target for parody, and I’m not just saying that because his body looks like a lumpy vertical waterbed with a wig. 

This is another area where Newsom is a social media natural. He’s as good-looking as Trump thinks he is, so he looks more at ease in a manly AI tableau.

Making fun of Trump is easy, but it’s also fun. Thank you for your attention to this matter!