'Don't poke the bear:' Newsom uses Trump’s punchy-style to make 2028 case
- - 'Don't poke the bear:' Newsom uses Trump’s punchy-style to make 2028 case
Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAYAugust 23, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Nine months after a California liberal failed to keep Donald Trump and the MAGA movement from retaking Washington, another Golden State Democrat has snatched the national microphone with an aggressive delivery.
"This is a new Democratic Party. This is a new energy out there all across this country, and we are going to meet fire with fire," Gov. Gavin Newsom said in response to USA TODAY during an Aug. 20 conference call with party leaders.
If Democrats are still having a crisis in confidence because of tanking popularity in the polls and bleeding voter registration numbers across the country, someone hasn't told the 57-year-old Newsom, who, between the flashy AI-generated memes and all caps social media rants has given the party an adrenaline rush this summer.
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Asked whether the page has turned on Democrats working with the Trump administration, Newsom said he still reveres the office of president, but that he’s trying to inject the party with a sense of urgency and activate "a renewed sense of purpose" among citizens.
"And I say that as a guy not from a small, isolated state but (one) the size of 21 state populations combined that is the fourth largest economy in the world," Newsom said. "We are going to meet this moment head-on."
It's an effective game plan in an attention-economy media landscape, some Democrats say, and it is being fueled by major clashes with Trump that are catching the attention of party naysayers.
"Gavin Newsom has been doing what I've wanted a Democrat to do for a long time," hip-hop radio host Charlamagne tha God said in an episode of "The Breakfast Club" earlier this month.
"When they low go, either you ignore them or you go to hell. He's matching energy and I like it."
Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks next to U.S. President Donald Trump upon Trump's arrival to tour areas impacted or destroyed by the southern California wildfires, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 24, 2025.
One day after the Republican-controlled state House in Texas passed new redistricting plans at the president’s behest, Newsom led the Democratic-run California legislature to approve a similar map for his state's voters to decide on in a Nov.4 special election.
Among the speculative field of 2028 White House contenders, Newsom has emerged as a Generation X liberal brawler who repurposes some of the same online gimmicks of the MAGA movement’s figurehead, skyrocketing him to the top of the polls in the too-soon-to-think-about next Democratic presidential primary.
Trump, too, has noticed. "I know Gavin very well," the president told reporters during an Aug. 22 event in the Oval Office. "He’s an incompetent guy with a good line of bull----.”
Other Dems praise Newsom's aggressive approach
Liberals have castigated some potential 2028 candidates, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for appearing too cozy with Trump. Others are also carving out a more conciliatory tone with Trump voters. By contrast, Newsom has leaned into being a strident and unapologetic anti-Trump voice.
The term-limited California governor has reportedly raked in $6.2 million in online donations in one week amid the redistricting battle and he's received rave reviews from some skeptical Democrats.
This might be the type of energy Democrats desperately need to stop the bleeding after months of polling showing their party in the gutter with voters. A new analysis by the New York Times this week found the GOP gaining 4.5 million registered voters nationwide compared with Democrats.
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A view of the California state Capitol on August 19, 2025 in Sacramento, California.
As Republicans moved to have state legislatures under their umbrella of control add more favorable seats to the 2026 midterm maps in Texas, Ohio and Indiana, Newsom matched the bare-knuckle approach with a new version of California's congressional maps that would eliminate five GOP-leaning seats.
The confrontational counterattack on redrawing the boundaries that make up who represents Americans in Congress has led to other blue-state governors in Illinois, New York and Maryland to mull similar steps. It's a position being endorsed by party leaders, such as DNC Chairman Ken Martin, and usually prudent figures, too, such as former President Barack Obama, who said on Aug. 20 he had "tremendous respect" for Newsom's approach despite his previous opposition to "political gerrymandering" overall.
"I think that (Gavin Newsom) is doing the exact right thing in California, if these are the new rules everybody's got to play by them," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, another 2028 aspirant who has visited early primary states, said on Aug. 21 during his podcast.
The redistricting is becoming a wedge issue that progressives want to battle out, but some warn Newsom is playing a "dangerous game" with redistricting, given that the uphill battle could backfire on Democrats. They are hamstrung by having fewer states in their control and stricter rules that make partisan redrawing more difficult.
Brian Sobel, a longtime political analyst based in the San Francisco Bay Area, said Newsom will earn the ire of red-state voters for his move. But Sobel also argued that the governor may be calculating that redrawing congressional maps won't be the hot button topic it is now by next year.
In the meantime, Sobel said, fighting so fiercely for the issue now creates an aura around the governor that gives him a national footprint.
"And that's exactly what Gavin Newsom wants and that's exactly where he is at presently," he said.
Mimicking Trump's social media rants to the top of 2028 polls
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference to kick off the Yes on 50 campaign at the California Democratic Party Headquarters on August 21, 2025 in Sacramento, California.
When the CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond said the company was bailing on California due to the state's strict regulations, for instance, Newsom didn't dive into a policy wonk defense of his government’s policies.
Instead, he clapped back with a dismissive brashness.
"The company that already went bankrupt and closed every store across the country two years ago? Ok," Newsom said in an Aug. 20 post on X responding to the company's chief executive.
Newsom has also been relishing the role of egging on conservative politicians, commentators and celebrities by mimicking the president's all-caps social media rants.
"WOW! FOX NEWS CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT ME (GAVIN C. NEWSOM), AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR!!! TONIGHT THEIR ENTIRE PRIMETIME LINEUP WAS ABOUT ME! JESSE WATTERS KEPT CALLING ME 'DADDY' (VERY WEIRD, NOT INTERESTED, BUT THANK YOU!)," an Aug. 20 post from the governor's press office said.
This illustration photo shows a person viewing a post from the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the press office of California Governor Gavin Newsom superimposing his face on Mount Rushmore on August 20, 2025 in Alhambra, California.
An Aug. 21 post dove into the fiery conservative uproar about Cracker Barrel's new logo, saying the restaurant chain should: "KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL LOGO!!! THE NEW ONE LOOKS LIKE CHEAP VELVEETA 'CHEESE' FROM WALMART, THE PLACE FOR 'GROCERIES' (AN OLD FASHIONED TERM)!!! 'FIX IT' ASAP! WOKE IS DEAD!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN."
The governor’s communications team has also begun using AI-generated images, which are a favorite of right-leaning activists to slam liberal causes and officials.
One message by Newsom’s press office on X, for instance, featured an AI-generated image of musician Kid Rock, a well-known Trump ally, dressed as Uncle Sam, pointing at the user: “Kid Rock Wants You to Support Gavin Newsom.”
I ACCEPT! — GCN pic.twitter.com/DLWF65DraJ
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 18, 2025
The singer and rapper lashed out in an Aug. 18 post, saying the only support Newsom would ever get from him would be “deez nuts,” a colloquial reference to his anatomy.
Other conservatives have taken shots at Newsom's newfound online voice, such as Vice President JD Vance, MAGA's heir apparent, who said in an Aug. 20 Fox News interview that imitating Trump won’t work because it "ignores the fundamental genius" of the president’s authenticity. Fox News host Dana Perino, a former White House press secretary, called out how rude the governor’s messages tended to be.
Newsom seems unruffled by the blowback.
"I mean, even poor Kid Rock – these guys, they’ve gotten a little precious, haven’t they? The folks at Fox (News) are like, ‘Oh, this is so unbecoming of a governor. Oh, oh,’” Newsom said in an Aug. 20 interview with The Siren, a progressive-leaning podcast show on YouTube. “And meanwhile, they sit there reading his tweets every single day.”
Newsom’s summer swagger appears to be helping him generate buzz, according to an August poll from Echelon Insights that shows him the second-most preferred 2028 candidate among Democrats.
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That survey finds Newsom holding 13% support, up from 4% in the same survey in April. He's in second place behind Kamala Harris, the former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, who recently opted against running in 2026 to succeed Newsom in California, while leaving the door open to launching another White House bid.
In the aftermath of the 2024 election loss, there have been “a lot of donor summits” about how the party can capture and keep people’s attention, said Democratic strategist Alyssa Cass.
Republicans have a deeper bench of superstars who can do that, she said, but Newsom, as governor of California, is better positioned to fill that void in the early 2028 jockeying.
In January, he had some of the earliest fights with Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress over conditions being set on federal aid to California amid January's catastrophic wildfires. About four months later, the president sent thousands of National Guard members into Los Angeles in response to protests against the administration's ICE deportation crackdown.
Protesters demonstrate near Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and ICE immigration raids on June 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
California's size, plus those prior clashes, put Newsom in a "prime position to be Trump slayer," for base Democrats, Cass said.
"Now with redistricting, he’s in the middle of the ring again," she said. "He is doing everything he can to turn that target on his back into a rallying post for Democratic voters across the country."
Other 2028 Dem hopefuls take note but offer few criticisms, solutions
Weeks before Trump was sworn in for a second term, Democrats were batting over how much to confront or cooperate with the returning president.
For much of the year, anyone aligned with Trump got scorched by the party's base. In April, some liberals skewered Whitmer after the Michigan governor unexpectedly appeared in the Oval Office while the president signed executive orders, with cameras clicking as she hugged Trump and hid her face behind file folders.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at Fisher Hill Community Baptist Church on July 8, 2025 in Cheraw, South Carolina. The governor is on the first of a two-day tour of rural counties in South Carolina, hosted by the state Democratic Party.
Whitmer’s PAC did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Asked if other Democrats should follow his communication strategy, Newsom told reporters earlier this week that he wasn’t going "to offer any advice" but he believes the party has to evolve.
"This is a different presidency. It requires a different approach than we’ve seen in the past," Newsom said in response to USA TODAY’s question.
Democratic strategists say the party wants a fighter and other 2028 hopefuls are otherwise occupied building up their brand or have smaller positions of influence. Other Democrats in the crowded constellation of possible White House contenders have chimed in but gained limited traction.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, a fundraising juggernaut who is regularly touted as a 2028 contender, called for an "even board" in July.
"If Republicans want to play by these rules, then I think we shouldn't have one set of rules for one and one set of rules for another," the 35-year-old congresswoman said.
Not every progressive is on board with the California governor's eye-for-an-eye view.
Some point out that he is accelerating a race to the bottom in terms of partisan gerrymandering, suggesting it is wrongheaded for Democrats to embrace this strategy because it joins the GOP in disenfranchising millions of voters.
“Remember, (Sen. John) Fetterman had good tweets, too," Nina Turner, a former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, said in an Aug. 20 post on X.
If the current course of events continues, election reformers warn, the Democratic strategy of "going lower" like Newsom is doing could further plunge Congress and the country into partisan trenches.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Newsom is using Trump's style in 2028 presidential audition
Source: “AOL Politics”
