Gavin Newsom is smart, young, handsome, articulate and the governor of the wealthiest and most populous state of the union. Unlike the aging, senile, cankled, demented criminal felon moron now in the White House.
If Trump hands over power when his term ends, Gavin Newsom will be the best candidate on the Democrat side to succeed him and begin healing the country.
Since it is all but certain that whoever Trump's successor might be will fail in the 2028 elections, many suspect Trump will do everything he can, legal or otherwise, to scuttle the elections. He can prevent the elections from taking place by declaring emergency powers, sending the military into the streets (for which Washington DC and soon Chicago are a dry run), suspending the constitution under false pretenses, or should there be elections, he can AGAIN falsely declare them a fraud and a steal.
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Amid MAGA backlash, Trump nemesis soars ahead in new poll
Rachel Cohen
Fri, August 29, 2025
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading by a large margin in a hypothetical 2028 Democratic presidential primary, an Emerson College poll revealed on Friday. Newsom recorded 25% support, a 13-point increase from June when he trailed behind other potential nominees at 12%.
Following behind Newsom is former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg with 16%, former Vice President Kamala Harris with 11%, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro with 5%, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York with 4%, respectively.
“Governor Newsom’s support surged across key demographic groups, highlighted by a 12-point increase among voters under 30 (6% to 18%) an 18-point increase among voters over 70 (13% to 31%), and a 14-point increase among both Black (9% to 23%) and White (10% to 24%) voters,” Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release.
Newsom’s sudden rise in favorability comes as he has made headlines — and subsequently sparked conservative backlash — in recent weeks through his trolling of President Donald Trump and MAGA on social media. His press account on X has mocked the president’s online presence, often posting messages in all-caps and giving his political rivals new nicknames. Some on the right have complained about the new strategy, with many claiming that he is copying Trump and his persona on Truth Social.
Newsom has also faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers as he moves forward with his own plan in California to counter a GOP-led effort in Texas — backed by the president — intended to add up to five safe seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Voters are expected to vote on their own blue-leaning map during a November special election.
Per the poll, Vice President JD Vance has taken an even greater lead compared to Newsom on a 2028 Republican presidential primary ballot, with 52% of GOP voters backing his nomination. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has 9% of support, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has 7%.
In a potential 2028 general election matchup between Newsom and Vance, they are tied, with both standing at 44% support. Twelve percent of voters remain undecided. The figure marks a shift from July, when Vance held a 3-point lead on Newsom.
Kimball attributed Newsom’s recent gains to voters aged 18 to 29.
The poll surveyed 1,000 active registered voters and was conducted between Aug. 25-26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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Poli Sci Experts Predict How Gavin Newsom's Brutal Mockery Of Trump And MAGA Will Resonate
Kimberley Richards
Sat, August 30, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and his team have recently ramped up their social media attacks on President Donald Trump, his administration and the president’s most dedicated MAGA supporters. And their approach is simple: Mock Trump by using his own style of writing and combativeness against him.
Last week, the official social media account for Newsom’s press office mimicked the president in a notably all-caps, Trump-esque tweet on X amid a controversial GOP redistricting ploy in Texas to send five more Republicans to the U.S. House. (Newsom has since launched a ballot initiative in California to ask voters in the state to approve early congressional redistricting to neutralize the Republican gains in Washington.)
“CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!)” Newsom’s press office wrote.
And in a a later tweet, the governor’s office ridiculed a photo of Trump jabbing a finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin by sharing a photo of Newsom doing the same thing to Trump on the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport in January.
“TINY HANDS IS OUT HERE COPYING ME — BUT WITHOUT THE STAMINA (SAD), AND CERTAINLY WITHOUT THE ‘LOOKS.’ TOTAL BETA! — GCN” the tweet read.
Other posts from Newsom and his office have either imitated Trump’s long-winded rants on his Truth Social platform or mocked some of the heavily edited and artificial intelligence-generated images that Trump and his MAGA supporters have been known to promote.
But Newsom and his office have not stopped at Trump. The X account for the governor’s press team has been quick to hit back at other critics online, and Newsom and his team have had some brutal jokes for Vice President JD Vance.
Over the weekend, the California Democrat referenced Vance’s past contentious exchange with Volodymyr Zelenskyy prior to the Ukrainian president’s return to the Oval Office on Monday by sharing a viral video of Vance running awkwardly at the Disneyland theme park in California this summer.
“Go get ’em JD!” Newsom tweeted.
While some social media users who oppose Trump have celebrated Newsom and his team for viciously trolling the Trump administration, several prominent conservatives and MAGA supporterson X have, unsurprisingly, taken issue with the brutal tit-for-tat approach.
Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher called Newsom’s attacks “childish,” Fox News host Dana Perino questioned whether the governor’s wife would step in to stop him from tweeting, and right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren derided Newsom and his team as “beta males” in a post on X.
Newsom told reporters last week that he hoped his trolling was a “wake-up call” and that “the deeper question is, how have we allowed the normalization of his tweets, Truth Social posts” without “similar scrutiny and notice.”
But is this an effective approach to fight against the Trump administration? Will Newsom’s trolling help energize the left? Read on to hear what experts in political science think.
Related: Trump Once Again Inserts Black Women Into A Dizzying Rant About Chicago — Experts Know Why
Why Newsom is using mockery to fight against Trump.
“In the age of Trump, my sense is that both Democrats and Republicans are casting about for approaches that are effective in countering Trump’s unique style,” said Steven J. Balla, associate professor of political science, public policy and public administration, and international affairs at The George Washington University.
Balla said that these responses tend to range from more “high road” approaches to strategies that seek in some way to “mirror” Trump.
“For now (at least) and on this issue (at least) Newsom has opted for the ‘mirroring’ approach,” he said. “Why is that? I would think that such an approach is seen as a pathway to the Democratic nomination. That is, it is popular among Democratic primary voters, who tend to track to the left of the median Democrat. The target audience, in other words, is progressive Democrats.”
Tabitha Bonilla, an associate professor of political science and human development and social policy at Northwestern University, told HuffPost that she believes, “Democrats are starting to realize that ‘politics as usual’ is not working as an approach.”
“They lost the election, Democrat favorability is low and there have been a lot of calls to reinvent themselves (and not a lot of agreement on what that means),” she said. “I think it’s clear that Governor Newsom is trying to establish a leadership role within the party and along with that, a style that pokes fun at the president.”
“I think all of this is a way to draw attention to the difference in how President Trump has used social media, but also as a point to demonstrate that Governor Newsom can play on the president’s level,” she added.
Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, told HuffPost that he thinks Newsom is responding to “elements of the Democratic rank-and-file who want party leaders to ‘take the gloves off’ and fight harder against Trump.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom photographed on Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. Mario Tama via Getty Images
Why people on the left are celebrating Newsom trolling Trump.
While people on the left have differing views about how to fight against the Trump administration — and different opinions about Newsom himself — there are many Democrats online who are celebrating the governor’s approach to opposing Trump.
Neiheisel thinks this is because there is a desire among some on the left to “take the fight to Trump and to adopt Trump-like methods.”
“This move is hardly surprising to me given that the parties tend to emulate each other in many ways, particularly after a loss,” he said.
Balla thinks the celebration is likely the loudest among progressive Democrats, “much in the same way that Trump’s communications play well with MAGA voters.”
“In both parties, I think, there are plenty of voters who are disenchanted with mocking attacks,” he said. “But these voters are increasingly seen as relics, and they are most likely more moderate and therefore less crucial during primary contests.”
Democrats are starting to realize that ‘politics as usual’ is not working as an approach.Tabitha Bonilla, associate professor at Northwestern University
Bonilla said that while she has not yet seen evidence in polls to suggest whether this style of attacking the president “pushes opinion very far,” she thinks that for some Democrats, it is exciting to see their leaders fight against Trump.
“In this moment, where the Trump administration has disrupted a lot of how the government functions, has increased the powers of ICE and taken over municipal governments, people are incredibly eager for a way to express worry, frustration, and dissatisfaction with the way things are going,” she said.
Is Newsom’s approach an effective strategy?
Newsom is widely speculated to be running for president in 2028. Should his potential political ambitions matter as people evaluate the effectiveness of his current attacks on Trump?
Bonilla said that she supposes it “does not hurt to engage with why a politician is acting in a particular way,” but thinks that “most voters are pretty savvy in trying to discern if what an elected official is doing is trustworthy or represents them first and foremost.”
But she suspects that any questions surrounding Newsom’s political ambitions won’t interfere with how people are currently responding to his attacks on Trump.
“However, I do think it would be a mistake to think that what Newsom is doing is a viable strategy for the Democratic Party as a whole,” she said. “First, this type of response will probably lose meaning the more people do it. Second, other than poking fun at the president, I’d be surprised if this fully helped people (re)gain trust in the Democratic Party.”
Balla said that he thinks Newsom’s attacks on Trump are “indistinguishable” from his political ambitions. “In the end, is this an effective approach? To win a Democratic primary, perhaps,” he said.
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