California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his team have spent weeks mocking President Trump online, ridiculing his all-caps posts, sign-offs, and using AI memes.
Their combative tone has targeted Trump’s Nobel and Kennedy Center complaints, hand size, poll numbers, and extended to VP JD Vance and other administration figures.
“I’m just following his example,” Newsom recently said. “If you have issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns with what he’s putting out as president.”
Newsom’s aggressive social media strategy has gone viral, racking up 1 billion impressions across X, TikTok, Facebook, and more in August, along with millions of new followers, CNN reported.
“This approach is 100% geared toward the Democrat base that is desperate for someone — anyone — to offer an aggressive counter to President Trump’s multifront war on many Democrat Party priorities,” California-based political strategist Matt Clink told the Washington Examiner.
Strategist Ryan White warned Newsom may be overplaying his hand, noting his Trump-like “loud and obnoxious” style relies on provocation and volume to dominate headlines. While effective, White cautioned that the political theater risks feeling worn out.
“What once worked for Trump, capturing eyeballs and shaping the narrative through spectacle, may now read more as noise than novelty,” he said. “Audiences are quicker to tune out the outrage cycle, and the risk for Newsom is that he ends up amplifying the fatigue rather than commanding the stage. This strategy is about six years too late.”
Newmedia.com founder Steve Morris said Newsom’s meme strategy taps into psychology by giving people a dopamine rush through humor and validation, but it rarely drives real action. His firm’s reviews found viral, sarcastic memes boosted laughs, not event turnout or volunteer engagement.
“Neurologically, once you get the satisfaction of the meme itself, it removes any drive to take a step in support of a cause,” he said. “This is called ‘slacktivism.’ When we’ve run even small tests for clients, these results were consistent, with funny memes attracting thousands of interactions, but almost never leading to meaningful actions like voter sign-ups or donations.”
He warned that algorithms amplify hostile content, unable to distinguish teasing from extremism. As a result, memes meant to mock often fuel outrage loops, energizing opponents while deepening divisions and boosting exposure for both sides.
